MetroIBA Press Clippings

For a few dollars more: Extra assessments have John Kolstad and other business owners pondering their futures on Lake Street

Image by Jana Freiband

by G.R. Anderson Jr.
March 1, 2006

February 26, 2006

The fact that Baker's store, Gander Mountain Co., nevertheless has used public money isn't stopping the CEO from calling on state and local governments across the country to stop subsidizing his competitors.

February 1, 2006, New York Times

By LISA CHAMBERLAIN

National stores have gotten a lot of attention by moving into New York City neighborhoods that were once thought of in the retailing world as about as hospitable as the moon: Old Navy in Harlem, Ikea in Red Hook, Target in Flatbush.

Jon Novick figures his great-grandfather probably would shrug had he lived to see the Fast & Furless vegan boutique he recently opened in St. Paul.

"He'd probably be scratching his head," said Novick, 36. "He might not understand the appeal."

Manuela Barraza owns Jennifer’s Boutique at 1508 E. Lake St. Barraza said she “never felt safe” when she opened her store a decade ago. There were drug dealers, prostitutes and petty thieves always loitering in the area. Now, she said E. Lake Street has begun to remind her of Mexico City, where she was born. “The streets are wide, there is lots of traffic and lots of cars. I feel at home here.”Glen Stubbe, Star Tribune

Published in the Star Tribune - CSERRES@STARTRIBUNE.COM

When Josh Lemm bought a small pharmacy in Chanhassen two years ago, he figured he would pass it on to his three children one day.

But that was before CVS Corp. opened a much larger store last summer three miles away. CVS offered $25 gift cards to people who switched their prescriptions to the new store, and sales at Lemm's drugstore fell 20 percent.

These days, Lemm can't help but mull over a letter he got from CVS seven months ago offering to buy his entire prescription list. "We're going to try our best to stay open, but this is a business, and at some point you've got to make a business decision," said Lemm, who also owns pharmacies in Edina and Hopkins.

THE ISSUE: Gedam Azeze, who was born in Ethiopia, had been told the lease on her five-year-old shop wouldn't be renewed at the Silver Lake Village Shopping Center. Among the reasons given: Caribou, which opened there in May, had an exclusive deal prohibiting other coffeehouses in the mall.

Groups urge residents to shop at locally owned stores this Saturday

Friday, November 18, 2005
By KRIS JANISCH

STILLWATER - Independent business owners in Stillwater are urging St. Croix Valley consumers to shop only at locally owned stores this Saturday.

The day will illustrate the value of shopping at locally owned businesses versus shopping at chain stores, said The Valley Bookstore owner Joci Tilsen, who's heading up the campaign called "Stillwater Unchained."

Tilsen urges residents to explore the area's independent shops "so that people recognize what happens to their dollars when they spend it at local businesses rather than chains," she said.

The program is part of "America Unchained," a campaign of the American Independent Business Alliance and the newly formed Metro Independent Business Alliance, which serves the seven-county Twin Cities metro area.

An often-cited 2004 study from Chicago's Andersonville neighborhood compared the local economic return of 10 local, independent stores to 10 chain stores. The report found that for every dollar spent at a locally owned store, 68 cents stayed in the local economy - compared to only 43 cents for non-local, chain stores.

Minnesota Department of Revenue figures show that the gross sales revenue for retail, eating and drinking establishments in Stillwater on an average day in 2003 was just more than $760,000, according to the Metro IBA.

Using the Andersonville results, if all shopping and dining dollars were spent at locally owned businesses for one day in Stillwater, $190,000 more would be injected into the local economy than shopping only at chains.

"It's really just about shifting people's attention," said Merritt Clapp-Smith, executive director of the Metro IBA.

The national campaign - Unchain America - began last year with a focus on changing consumers' habits and getting them to consider their choices and the impact that shopping at independent stores has on the local economy.

If customers don't patronize locally owned establishments, corporations will eventually own all stores, said Tim's Corner Store owner Tim Rassmussen.

"The rich get richer," he said.

Unlike some other chain grocery stores, Rassmussen said he develops personal relationships with his patrons.

"I know who my customers are," he said, adding that he spends most of his money at local stores.

Not enough customers realize what shopping locally does for the local economy, Supreme Bean owner Jennifer Safe said.

Stillwater-area shop owners make a point to spend their money at other local stores, she said, as do her employees.

"Everybody's kind of a family," Safe said.

When tourists come to town, she said they often seek out local coffee shops and other establishments instead of "cookie cutter" stores they visit in their own hometowns, which is one advantage for Stillwater shop owners.

"It's small town," Safe said, adding that she does all her Christmas shopping locally and buys her groceries at Len's Family Foods, another locally owned company.

The campaign also has the city's support. On Tuesday the City Council proclaimed Saturday as "Shop Locally Owned Day" in Stillwater.

"(Independent businesses are) part of what makes our community so special," Mayor Jay Kimble said.

There's not a whole lot chain stores can do about campaigns that urge customers to shop only at independently owned stores, said Stillwater Target executive Mandy Brotzel.

However, a portion of dollars spent at Stillwater Target do come back to the community, she said. About half of store's employees live in the St. Croix Valley and the other half live in Wisconsin.

"We just kind of open our doors and let the guests come in," said Brotzel, who also noted Target's contributions to local charities and non-profits.

Managers at the Wal-Mart in Oak Park Heights directed questions to the company's corporate office. Repeated phone calls seeking comment went unreturned.

There are distinct advantages to shopping at independent stores, bookstore owner Tilsen said. While books are available everywhere from Target to Menards, she said those places can't recommend good books or make special orders.

Stillwater has been very supportive of independent businesses, Tilsen said, but customers don't often differentiate between Stillwater and the surrounding area.

"Stillwater has never been particularly chain-friendly," she said. "But the Stillwater area has."

Where people spend their money is similar to going to the polls, Tilsen said. "We really have a long way to go for people to understand; when you spend your money, you're voting."

The Stillwater Unchained campaign aims to get consumers asking why they should spend their money in town, Tilsen said.

"If we want unique, independent businesses in our town, we have to spend our money here," she said.

Upsize Minnesota Magazine's current cover story includes a long section on MetroIBA, with extended commentary by Red Balloon Books owner Michele. Read the full article here.

From the article:
"This spring, a group of Twin Cities small independent businesses founded its own strength-in-numbers organization, the Metro Independent Business Alliance (MIBA), to create a platform equal to the ones occupied by larger companies. It isn't adversarial. The prospective executive director, Merritt Clapp-Smith, says she doesn't like the phrase 'us versus them...It's not about bashing chains, it's about promoting independent businesses.' "

Minnesota Public Radio ran a story on MetroIBA and the benefits of supporting local, independent businesses on May 17. From the story:

"The 'buy local' movement is relatively new in the United States. The two-year-old American Independent Business Alliance grew from an effort to promote small businesses in Boulder Colorado which began in the late 1990s.

"The national alliance's community outreach director, Jeff Milchen, says there are currently a little more than a dozen small business coalitions scattered throughout the U.S., but he says the anti-chain store movement is growing rapidly."