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In an extremely challenging economic climate, independent retailers are outperforming many chains, a national survey has found.
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This week, the incoming Obama administration gave a strong signal of its commitment to channeling federal economic recovery efforts to small businesses.
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The American Booksellers Association, in conjunction with the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, is asking bookstore members to take a few moments now to complete an Independent Business Holiday Sales Trends Survey.
Information compiled from responses to the survey's six simple questions will help ABA and the other participating organizations (all representing the interests of independent businesses) to better serve members' needs and plan future joint initiatives.
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This piece about the implications of the retail downturn and the importance of independently-owned local businesses by Jeff Milchen (co-founder of AMIBA) originally appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle.
By Jeff Milchen
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This month, the Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR) announced that it had found "fatal flaws" in the study Has Wal-Mart Buried Mom and Pop? by Dr. Russell Sobel, chair of Entrepreneurial Studies at West Virginia University, and Andrea Dean, a Kendrick Fellow in WVU's Economics Department. The study, published in the October issue of the academic journal Economic Inquiry, asserts that Wal-Mart has had no significant impact on the size, growth, or profitability of small businesses.
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In a further indication of how far the "Shop Local" message has come, this week the International Council of Shopping Centers launched a print and television campaign "Give Your Community a Lift ... Shop Locally for Your Gifts!" The ads seek to drive home to consumers the importance of shopping locally this holiday season because it keeps sales tax revenue in the community.
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Taking a cue from the San Francisco Locally Owned Merchants Association's (SFLOMA) holiday marketing promotion between book and hardware stores, Malaprop's Bookstore/Cafe in Asheville, North Carolina, has partnered with a local bike shop, Liberty Bicycles, for a new cooperative marketing campaign. For a limited time, Malaprop's is offering its customers an added incentive to shop at Liberty Bicycles, and the bike shop is doing the same to drive business to Malaprop's.
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If anyone doubts that now is the time to focus the spotlight on the importance of shopping locally and the unique contributions of independent businesses, they need look no further than the support the Shop Local movement recently garnered from local politicians in different parts of the country.
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Though Arkansas' Fayetteville Independent Business Alliance (FIBA) launched only about a month ago, it has managed to garner a great deal of attention in the local community and in the media. In its short existence, FIBA, which was founded by Lisa Sharp of Nightbird Books and Liz Slape, whose family owns Penguin Ed's Barbeque, has been featured on the local television station and in a number of newspapers. And already the IBA has 20 paid members.
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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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