A coming Holiday Campaign for Local and Independent Businesses

[somlocal1st.livejournal.com]

 Somerville Local First is planning a holiday campaign to encourage residents and community members to buy local for the holiday season.

What type of events and campaign elements would encourage and enable you to buy more from local businesses this holiday season?  

We'd love your thoughts and feedback as we construct the campaign.

Thanks,
Somerville Local First 

Comments

[ron_newman]

A widely distributed list of local stores and what is sold in each one, with links to each merchant's website, perhaps organized geographically or by product categories.

[808.livejournal.com]

seconded

[jenej.livejournal.com]

That is a great idea, and would be a very helpful list to have!

[plumtreeblossom.livejournal.com]

There is a directory (http://www.somervillelocalfirst.org/joom2/index.php?option=com_sobi2&Itemid=96) here of member merchants. What I would love to see in addition to this is a list of just the plain links so I can view them all on one page.

[ron_newman]

A good start, but it needs to say what each business sells, as people unfamiliar with the area won't know that Redbones is a restaurant, La Chic Boutique is a consignment store, and that Dave's Fresh Pasta sells lots of other things besides pasta. Also, there should be a print version of this (should fit on both sides of a single 8.5x11 sheet) distributed in each store.

[fefie.livejournal.com]

Some places I frequent aren't on this list; the TeaZone and the Training Room come to mind immediately.

[joifulgurl.livejournal.com]

i like ron newman's idea.

i've also heard about other communities doing a "shop local loyalty" card. folks who want the card need to go to participating local businesses to get it, and when they flash their card, they get 5% off or candy or a stamp or whatever. if the stamp thing is the direction they take it, then redeeming the card after X number of stamps at a local business for 20% off or something would work.

heard about it on my NPR station (in NY, boo), and it sounded like a great idea to me.

[upsidown.livejournal.com]

I'd like to hear some more about each local business-- where it buys from (generally), how many people it employs, whether it provides health insurance, if it donates to any local orgs, etc.

[fitfool.livejournal.com]

When I hear of a small local business offering health insurance to their employees (even the part-timers!), I do try to buy from them more. Also...lower prices. I'm still largely motivated by price. The coupon/stamp book thing sounds good.

[redcolumbine.livejournal.com]

Oooo, yes, I'd love to know which local businesses offer their employees health insurance! That's useful information.

[freedmam.livejournal.com]

I'd love to see free parking on Saturdays...I'd rather shop in town than at a crowded mall (but not if it means getting a $25 ticket)

A map with local stores pointed out would be helpful (like the touristy ones with coupons and ads on the back)

Also...committing a day where 5% of all purchases goes to charity or local schools would be great.

I love the coupon book!!

[redcolumbine.livejournal.com]

Just as a reminder, a sign in the windows of local retailers - something like "Generosity Begins at Home - Shop Somerville" and the Powderhouse with a Santa Claus hat on. (Go ahead and laugh; that's really how I think and I'm used to it!)

[slinkr.livejournal.com]

My biggest holiday shopping problem is figuring out what to buy and then where to find it. If you could spotlight local businesses with specific gift ideas, that would be cool. Who in Somerville has great gifts for young kids, college students, people who love to cook, outdoor adventurers, sports fans, etc.?

[lizzielizzie.livejournal.com]

I love the idea of a detailed list of who sells what.

I personally love the late-night shopping nights (the ones that run until midnight), since I don't live right nearby and my work schedule usually does not allow me to visit during normal business hours.

Free parking on occasion would also be thrilling.

[fefie.livejournal.com]

I like shopping at Midnight Madness too. I'd like to see similar promotion of other parts of the city not just Davis Sq. Maybe a city-wide Midnight Madness that would include Ball Sq, Union Sq, East Somerville, etc.

[turil.livejournal.com]

If local businesses created temp jobs, and hired local contractors, and bought/sold more local goods, us locals would have more money to buy more local goods! :-)

How about local stored hiring local folks to do bicycle delivery for shoppers who want to call up and order something? Or hiring local folks to do in-store gift wrapping? Or hiring local artists to design signs, posters, post cards, and displays for the stores? How about pledging to carry at least 50% locally created products in your store? The more money the local businesses put back into the local economy, the more the local economy will put back into the local businesses. :-)

Exactly.

[nvidia99999.livejournal.com]

Plus, if local stores charge significantly more than other stores, I'm not buying local. Why should I? Local stores should be rated based on how many local jobs they create. I'd be happy to sponsor stores that create such jobs, as turil says.

Re: Exactly.

[ron_newman]

You sort of contradict yourself here, saying on the one hand that you only care about price, and on the other that job creation matters.

[ron_newman]

Ideally, bicycle delivery should use the services of another Somerville Local business: Metro Pedal Power

[turil.livejournal.com]

Ideally, there would be many options! :-) MetroPed are great for larger deliveries, as they have those large electric trikes. Smaller deliveries are great for an ordinary bike, which can get around faster. (Though MetroPed might have more courier type bikers too, I'm not sure.)

But no matter who you hire to do your bike delivery business, it's going to make the local economy better.

[closetalker11.livejournal.com]

I love the Midnight Madness sale! I second (or third) this. However, I liked it much better when the sales were a) meaningful (5% off items no one wants to begin with isn't going to bring someone into a store) and b) progressive (as in the sale gets better as the night goes on).

Also, posting a list of who's participating and what they're offering -- maybe on a map? -- somewhere conspicuous and online would be SUPER helpful. I find myself calling every business and posting a list here every year :).

[bobobb.livejournal.com]

There are so many new and cool shops in Ball Square, it would be great if you posted somewhere the names of the shops and what they offer.

[allli.livejournal.com]

As someone who shops locally very often (deliberately), I don't think I need a list, but I'd like to put in my vote of support for the Midnight Madness event or something like it. It's fun, makes local shopping more accessible to working people, and it would be easy to make it more welcoming and exciting by also having caroling, music, local art, etc.

Other ways in which local businesses contribute

[somlocal1st.livejournal.com]

Thanks to all for your thoughts and comments. Please keep them coming!

To add to the discussion, I also wanted to mention the ways (other than jobs) that local and independent businesses contribute to the economy.

--2 to 3 times more dollars stay in the community when we spend at local independents. This happens because local businesses purchase more products and especially services (web design, legal, tax/accounting, etc.) from other local businesses.*

--Local independents contribute 350% more to local nonprofits*

Check out this and next edition of the Somverville Scout for the Top 10 reasons to buy local.

*http://www.civiceconomics.com/localworks
**http://www.civiceconomics.com/Andersonville/