Main Street/Shop Local

03 May

New Economic Study Finds Independents Dominate in San Francisco

A new economic and market share analysis of the city of San Francisco has provided some surprising results. Despite recent high-profile closings of independent bookstores in the Bay Area, the new "San Francisco Retail Diversity Study" shows that, as a whole, independent bookstores in San Francisco are not only thriving but are dominating the city's book market.

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19 Apr

Scholastic Sponsors a Contest to Celebrate Main Street

Does your town love its Main Street? Starting May 2, Scholastic Inc. and the American Booksellers Association will offer a way for your town to prove it -- and a chance for participants to win a Main Street spending spree. Scholastic and ABA are partnering to bring the Main Street Contest -- an essay contest for children -- to Book Sense bookstores.

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06 Mar

New Directory Makes It Easier to Shop Locally

Cambridge Local First has made it easier for consumers to find independently owned businesses. The Cambridge, Massachusetts, independent business alliance, which formed in July 2005, recently celebrated the release of a four-color directory, which provides local residents with listings of its 160-plus members, a handy map of the area, pictures of select businesses, and an introduction explaining why shopping locally is better for the community.

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28 Feb

Austin Joins Cities With Big Box Ordinances

In Austin, Texas, opponents of large chain store development earned a hard-fought victory when the city council approved an ordinance aimed at limiting big-box development. However, for one neighborhood group, the new ordinance will have little or no effect on a development featuring a 217,000-square-foot Wal-Mart.

On February 15, Austin's city council unanimously approved by a vote of 6 - 0 an ordinance that subjects to a public hearing and city council review any proposed retail development over 100,000 square feet.

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22 Feb

Austin Independent Alliance Links Developers With Local Businesses

The Austin (Texas) Independent Business Alliance (AIBA) recently launched an online database of commercial properties whose owners or developers are seeking community-based businesses to fill vacant retail spaces. The database, the newest phase of AIBA's program Connecting & Linking Independents With Commercial Development (CLIC), helps locally owned businesses identify available properties in which to open or expand.

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08 Feb

Retailers See Positive Results From Buy Local Campaign

According to the results of a holiday shopping survey conducted by the Portland (Maine) Independent Business and Community Alliance (PIBCA) -- a nonprofit, volunteer group -- its "Portland Buy Local" campaign is influencing residents to shop locally.

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18 Jan

Panel of Experts to Reveal 'Local First' Data at the Winter Institute

Booksellers looking to create or bolster consumer awareness of the importance of shopping locally will find much to help their cause at the panel "How to Create an Independent Business Alliance in Your Community" at this year's Winter Institute.

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13 Dec

Hometown Advantage Offers Compilation of Size Cap & Formula Business Ordinances

For the past several years, a growing number of local merchants, residents, and independent business alliances have influenced the manner in which their towns are developed by enacting or amending zoning laws to include retail size caps or formula business restrictions.

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07 Dec

San Fran Study Could Provide Powerful Ammunition for Independents

Over the past few years, a number of economic studies -- including two conducted by Civic Economics, a leader in the field of progressive economic development -- have consistently calculated that locally owned businesses contribute more than three times as much economic value to a community than do chain retailers.

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30 Nov

Unchaining America One Community at a Time

On Saturday, November 18, over 60 communities around the country celebrated America Unchained, the third annual event sponsored by the American Independent Business Alliance (AMIBA). America Unchained urges communities to "unchain themselves" and to shop at local independent businesses for the day as a way to educate consumers about the economic value of locally owned businesses.

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09 Nov

Two Main Street Amendments Fail by Narrow Margins

Election Day 2006 proved to be disappointing for two booksellers who were supporting measures to keep big box stores out of their respective communities. In both cases, the votes went in favor of corporate retail by a narrow margin.

In Davis, California, a measure that will allow a Target to open in the community passed by a three percent margin, according to the Sacramento Bee; and in Ravalli County, a proposition to repeal an emergency ordinance that placed a 60,000-square-foot size cap on new retail development also lost by a slim margin.

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02 Nov

Getting Out the Vote for Main Street

With Election Day less than a week away, it's not surprising that Congressional mid-term elections have been dominating the news from coast to coast. However, in two communities in the West, a vote of a different kind has been making headlines: In Davis, California, and Ravalli County, Montana, voters will be heading to the polls on November 7 to determine whether their communities open their doors to big box retailers.

Ravalli County, Montana

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About ABA

The American Booksellers Association, a national not-for-profit trade organization, works with booksellers and industry partners to ensure the success and profitability of independently owned book retailers, and to assist in expanding the community of the book.

Independent bookstores act as community anchors; they serve a unique role in promoting the open exchange of ideas, enriching the cultural life of communities, and creating economically vibrant neighborhoods.

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