Making Small Stores Big
Specialty toy retailers create 'shop local' efforts
By Kathleen McHugh -- Gifts and Dec, 4/1/2010 12:00:00 AM
Seventy to 80 cents of every dollar spent. That's the amount that stays in a community and gets recycled throughout its economy when a shopper buys at locally-owned independent retailers. Compare that to only 20 to 40 cents on the dollar if the same purchase is made at a corporately-owned big box or chain store.
Advantages for the community
Stimulating the local economy and tax base is just one advantage of “buying local” cited by proponents of various promotional campaigns aimed at encouraging shoppers to spend at independent stores rather than at mass retailers. Other benefits include the reduction of environmental impact thanks to the central business district locations typical of such stores; the jobs created; the greater support of local charities by local owners; the lower amount of public infrastructure required to support small business; the increased consumer choices; and the greater attention to the customer that independent retailers typically provide.
Homegrown promotions
Those are facts and figures that specialty toy retailers can use to their advantage, and many members of the American Specialty Toy Retailing Association (ASTRA) are doing so as part of their homegrown “buy local” promotions.
“I remember hearing one of the leaders in the local sustainable economy movement ask if we believe power should be centralized in people and communities, or in large corporations that are not accountable to anyone living here,” says Linda Hays, owner of Hopscotch Toys and Games in McMinnville, Oregon. “That question resonated with me, and helped motivate several of us independent store owners in McMinnville to organize our own Buy Local campaign.”
A simple program
Five years ago, Hay joined forces with five other businesses to explore what together they could do to promote the shop local idea. They did not have dollars available to purchase a turnkey program from one of the national organizations like the American Independent Business Alliance (AMIBA). So they decided to keep it simple and do what they could, given the busy schedules of independent business owners. Here's what the program looks like today:
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Window clings. The group created a logo, which they used in a window cling that appears in the windows of all the participating stores—and is also distributed to customers to make the program more viral. Customers are encouraged to put the cling on their cars.
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Website. Visit www.buylocalmac.com to check out the group's website, which includes the argument for buying local, a directory of locally-owned businesses, and a discussion forum. Hays points out that it's under utilized as a place to put information and resources—a measure of the Buy Local group's limited capacity to tend to it—and by consumers, but at least the group has a presence on the web.
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Publicity. The Buy Local group has attracted coverage in the local newspaper several times, generally around some special promotion or event.
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Advertisements. The business owners who are part of the Buy Local group agree to put the Buy Local logo in their ad whenever they advertise.
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Every day practices. Hays and her Buy Local colleagues make sure that all customers are thanked for shopping locally whenever they come into their establishments. “This makes people feel good. It says to them that you are making a difference just by being here, and people like being recognized for that.”
How is it working? “We don't have the resources to track down sales numbers resulting from this effort,” says Hays, “but judging by the number of requests for window clings, the number of those clings that you see driving around town, and the number of people volunteering that they choose to buy locally, it's clear that we have made an impact. During the recession, in fact, customers have told us that they have made extra effort to get to our store because they don't want to risk losing us and other locally-owned businesses. It's great to know our outreach has had an impact, and that [our customers] 'get it.'”
Eric and Brandy Masoncup, owners of Gepetto's Toy Box in Oak Park, Illinois have a similar story. Business owners in Oak Park's Avenue district have organized loosely to promote the shop local idea. The group is limited less by time than by the lack of funds to mount a full-scale campaign. Gepetto's gets some useful free resources from the 3/50 project and promotes local shopping in its store's newsletter and on its Facebook page.
Help with getting started
Aimed at consumers who care about building sustainable economies in their town or city, several national organizations have sprung up to help business owners communicate the advantages of shopping at retailers who are from the community, understand the community, and are committed to the community.
ASTRA, for example, is active in the American Independent Business Alliance, from which ASTRA sources ready-made, easy-to-use tools its toy retailers can use to highlight the economic, environmental, and community-pride benefits of shopping at locally-owned and operated toy stores. Other groups include the 3/50 project, named for the idea that each consumer should identify three locally-owned enterprises they would miss if they went out of business and commit to spending at least $50 per month at those businesses, and the Business Alliance for Local Living Economies (BALLE).
Every little bit helps
Whatever approach you want to take for your store and your local economy, both Hays and Masoncup recommend that you take action and do something. It does not need to be a full-blown campaign in the beginning, they point out, because even small, no-cost gestures like saying thanks for shopping locally and including information on your store's website and in your newsletter can make get the ball rolling.
“We've stumbled a bit on some parts of our program,” admits Hays, “but that's what comes with the do-it-yourself way we've done it and the fact that all the business owners in our group are simply too busy to give more time to it. Yet we've made a lot of progress, given what little we were able to invest in it.”
“Do it as best you can for now, and keep it going and growing,” suggests Masoncup. “Whatever you can do will only help you. It will show that you have a commitment to your community and you actively support your community. It sends the message that you hope your customers, in turn, will support you.”
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