Breaking St. Paul Independents Out of Chains

In what looks to be a growing, if not rather ironic, trend in many small towns around the country, a chain store has spurred the formation of yet another independent business alliance (IBA). It was a proposed development to be anchored by a Borders Books & Music that was a catalyst for the creation of the Austin, Texas, IBA; another Borders opening that inspired the creation of an IBA in Corvalis, Oregon; and, most recently, in St. Paul, Minnesota, it was the opening of a Wal-Mart that gave David Unowsky, the former owner of Ruminator Books and current bookseller at Magers & Quinn Booksellers, the impetus to form the tentatively named Metro Independent Business Alliance (MIBA).

"I used to belong to the Independent Booksellers Consortium," Unowsky told BTW. "Other members included David Bolduc [of the Boulder Book Store in Colorado] and Steve Bercu of BookPeople [in Austin], both of whom were instrumental in forming IBAs in their own towns. And if I hadn't spent the last five years trying to save my business, I would have [started a St. Paul IBA] already."

The seeds for the MIBA were finally sown last year, after it was announced that a Wal-Mart planned to open in St. Paul, Minnesota. It wasn't long afterwards that a grassroots movement led by the local Green Party's Small Is Beautiful Committee sprang up in an effort to keep the chain out of the city. The committee sought to educate citizens and politicians about the value of local businesses, and though its grassroots efforts ultimately failed, it did raise awareness of the economic and aesthetic impact of local businesses versus chain stores.

"In November, the District Council brought in Stacy Mitchell, [senior researcher with the New Rules Project, a program of the Institute for Local Self Reliance, and a board member of the American Independent Business Alliance] to speak about how to help independent businesses survive on Grand Avenue," said Unowsky, who noted that, at the time, the council was considering limits for "formula businesses." After Mitchell's talk, people urged Unowsky to create an IBA in St. Paul.

Having already worked with the local Green Party on a regular basis for a few months before the event, Unowsky immediately contacted the party's leadership and told them "what was going on, and they wanted to get involved," he said. "After the last election, I felt there was nothing I could do on a national level, but I felt with something [local] I could make a difference."

Working with the Small Is Beautiful Committee, Unowsky began spreading the word to local business owners that he was forming an IBA in St. Paul. And, on February 24, Jeff Milchen of the American Independent Business Alliance [AMIBA] came to St. Paul to speak at an event sponsored by the McAllister College Green Party. The event brought in approximately 50 people, Unowsky reported. "It was a mix of business people and neighbors and community -- those interested [in joining] and [those who are] supportive," he said.

Though MIBA is still a fledgling, already the organization is speaking to "progressive developers and they're interested" in working with MIBA, and Unowsky said he plans to target e-mail discussion groups. "We want to foster a groundswell among the community," he said. Moreover, he plans to "work very hard to include minority and people of color. There are a lot of Asian-owned business, African-American and Latino owners we'd like to get involved." --David Grogan