Healdsburg, CA Retailers

In early 2007, a group of independent storeowners in the quaint downtown area of Healdsburg, CA, made the important realization that there is strength in numbers. The five women — Linda Chartier and Shelley Anderson of Midnight Sun Bed & Bath Shoppe and Midnight Sun Children's Shoppe, Nanci Bosio of Papitre, Cynthia Zizi of Zizi, and Sue Sacks of Options Gallery Inc. — all wanted to increase their store traffic and sales, but individually lacked the big-bucks marketing budget needed to have a real impact. By pooliing their resources — both financial and cerebral — they realized their partnership could take them places they couldn't go alone.

While Healdsburg had benefited from a recent marketing campaign by its local lodging constituency and was becoming well known for its central location to more than 100 world-class wineries, the publicity the city received was focused almost exclusively on wine and food.

“We needed to persuade more people to come to Healdsburg with the sole intention to shop,” noted Sacks.

The group focused on the things shopping in Healdsburg had going for it: the variety of shops, personal attention, friendly service and unique, high-quality goods.

“We knew the focus was on creating word-of-mouth about shopping in Healdsburg,” said Sacks. “We needed to break through all the food and wine publicity … Our challenge was get the shopping story out, even though our resources were limited.”

To do this, the group took several steps to keep them on task. First, and most important, said Sacks, they hired coach Kara Raymond, who facilitated meetings and helped the group stick to its goals. The women met with Raymond at least bi-weekly — more often when special tasks needed to be completed.

They then set out to establish a positive group dynamic by spending several weeks talking about how to work together, which Sacks says was instrumental to the group's success.

“The working relationship was built on trust, compassion and good listening skills,” she said. “To get it all done, we had to divide and conquer. Most importantly, we always encouraged each other to keep communications open and honest.”

The group established a joint bank account for their marketing budget, had professional photos taken (both of the stores and the women themselves), produced and distributed a postcard to local lodging establishments and visitor centers, distributed a press release to local and national print publications on the benefits of shopping in Healdsburg, produced a print ad for a local holiday gift guide, and aligned with city business leaders.

It was this last step that proved to be vital to the Healdsburg retailers group; impressed by their accomplishments, the Healdsburg City Council approved $30,000 in additional funds to promote Healdsburg as a shopping destination. The money is currently being spent on a publicist who is generating stories and creating press about Healdsburg shopping.

“In today's economy, independent retailers must build on their combined strengths and come up with innovative ways to solve shared challenges,” said Sacks. “We all have more in common than we think.”