I am the founding director of Somerville Local First, a nonprofit network of Local Independents (locally owned and independent businesses) in the Somerville, MA.  Day to day, I work with small business owners, fellow nonprofit organizations, local politicians and government agencies, local and regional media and small business service providers. This gives me a window into most corners of the small business world, and I hope to be able to share some of those insights with you.

There are a lot of reasons to support Local Independents, and you’ll be hearing them from me with regularity, but the one I want to start with is the importance of Place.  A couple of months ago, I came across this quote:

“When every place looks the same, there is no such thing as place anymore.”

Ironically, this article from Atlantic Monthly is titled “In Praise of Chain Stores”.  Clearly, I vigorously disagree with the author’s premise, but am happy to steal her verbiage to make my point

Place IS important.  The character of our City Squares (pun intended), Main Streets and Central Business Districts does make us unique.  In Somerville, we have institutions like Johnny D’s and Redbones that people immediately identify with Somerville.  The author of the Atlantic Monthly article argues that its weather and terrain that create a sense of place.  Hmm…

I don’t know…I hear “I love Redbones” or “I saw XYZ @ Johnny D’s” much more than “Somerville has a lot of hills”…which it does by the way.  Somerville boasts, in my humble opinion, one of the coolest, most creative communities in America and the Local Independents have a lot to do with that.

In closing, I encourage you to compare and contrast your communtiy with those around you.   Whether you live in a place surrounded by independent businesses or one that has more corporate offerings, think about what makes your community unique.  And, as I often say in my Somerville Local First blog, Keep it Local, Keep it Fresh.

“Even though I was apprehensive about only buying local, I actually really stuck to it aside from this past week in California…I mean lets be serious I had to try Inn and Out Burger’s secret menu and dine amongst the stars at Mr. Chows. That aside, when in Boston I got the majority of my groceries from a local store called Symphony Market and on the way back from the beach in Rhode Island on the weekends I would stop at the farm stands and buy my fruits and veggies for the week. I stopped going to Starbucks all together and now go to Espresso Royale. Even though I really enjoyed the local markets, now that the challenge is over I will probably start going back to the larger super markets, simply because they are more affordable and convenient.”  – Caitlin

“Buying local was easy in the dining out and bar scene since I live in a city. The biggest upset is that I wanted to buy flowers locally and didn’t know where a local florist was. Since I was out of town, and driving, I used GPS to find one but it was 15 miles away. I ended up going to a Shaws and spending a fortune on a floral arrangement that I probably could have gotten cheaper from a local florist.“  – Alexandra

“I am buying entirely local more successfully. I’m eating at local establishments, buying at only local businesses including Tags Hardware and Porter Square Books, I’m even buying local beers. I’m starting to really enjoy it and the more I practice this kind of Buy Local behavior the more I find myself objecting to non-local purchasing/commerce. It’s starting to just become routine. I’m not finding myself purposefully working at it as much now, it’s just sort of happening on its own.”  – Ben

“Coffee is my thing. I need to have GOOD coffee in the morning, afternoon and some evenings. I felt this was the best way to test the local waters.  Buying local meant that Starbucks was out of the picture. Enter Greenlight. The Pete’s Iced Coffee is self-poured and the cups are prefilled with ice. No frills, just coffee.  In just about any other setting this would come off as kind of a pain. However, once you take your simple coffee to the register you are greeted by  a smiling and friendly, non-uniform wearing fella who knew my name after my first visit. My morning coffee became more like what a morning coffee used to be, a daily social activity, not just a caffeine binge. The coffee was half the price as Starbucks and frankly just as strong as my Venti Iced Black Eye (One big coffee with two shots of espresso).  I won’t lie, it will be hard to completely nix the Starbucks, but Greenlight has a new loyal customer.”    - Steve

Overall, this Buy Local challenge was a success. Buying locally is something that’s really baked into CitySquares’ DNA. Because we work with locally owned businesses all day long, every day, it’s a constant reminder. And what’s fun about working at CitySquares too, is that it really puts a spotlight on the communities we work with, and the local businesses within them. Even so, we need a reminder sometimes. Buying things like toothpaste, flowers, greeting cards, groceries, things like that are all matters of convenience. We’re consumers, and we tend to not think about our consumer behaviors. But when we do, when we intentionally monitor those behaviors and try to be a bit more socially responsible with them, we find ourselves enjoying our consumer lifestyles a bit more. As Steve pointed out above, he found his morning cups of coffee to be more social and friendly, and as Ben realized, the more he altered and practiced his consumer behaviors the easier it became.

When we first discussed doing this challenge there was a lot of debate about where to buy certain products. Some of us didn’t realize how much opportunity there really was to buy locally. Ultimately, we all learned some lessons here and we’re better consumers because of it.

– Julie

A couple of months ago we had an idea to put a bit of an animation together that demonstrates how we feel about traditional print media, specifically the phone book and local newspapers. We didn’t want it to be too serious or lengthy, so Jason, Amber, and myself put a storyboard together and found someone who could help us get it done. We’re really happy with the final result, and we hope you are too. It’s only a minute and a half long. Check it out!

[wpvideo hzFkWr0h]

You can find the original Flash version of the movie here on CitySquares.com. We also threw it up on YouTube and the CitySquares Facebook page.

What do you think?

– Ben

After dinner we ended up a wine bar in the Upper West Wide called Wine & Roses. When we walked in, we were deep in the conversation, a friendly debate. We sat down at the bar right as I was trying to explain that consumer choice, in my opinion, is about three things:

1. Convenience: That is, what is closest to me or least interruptive to my day. Whether it’s a national chain or a local boutique, just give it to me quickly.
2. Budget: That is, I know how much I’m willing to pay, and no more. Whether it’s local, at a national brand, or online, I’m willing to take the time to find the best deal possible.
3. Community: I support my local mom-and-pop businesses, I believe they are essential to my community, and I value my relationship with them. I’m also aware of the economic benefits of buying locally.

It’s possible to have a hybrid of all three, of course, and most local businesses provide exactly that – convenience, affordability, and are actively part of their community. Redbones in Somerville’s Davis Square is a great example of this. They provide a quality product, excellent service, they are extremely convenient (they deliver this quality product on Redbones branded bicycles), and they are very active in the Somerville and Davis Square communities.

As we were discussing this and sat down at the bar, it happened to be next to the owner, Jennifer. I asked for her opinion on the topic and she more or less validated those three points with one major caveat – location. If you live in Manhattan, you have choices – lots and lots of choices. (But even that is changing, in a city like NY where you can’t walk three blocks without passing a national chain. It seems like the days of the local mom-and-pop are numbered in Manhattan.)

Anyway, the owner of this wine bar, Jennifer, explained that she was leaving for Arizona to see some family outside Mesa, and suggested that she is well aware that when she gets there she won’t have the same options and will certainly end up eating and buying at national chains. Now, she didn’t suggest this was a bad thing, or a good thing, but we all agreed that there is a reality in America where in some places consumers have choices about where to spend their money (the city) yet in others (Mesa, AZ) they just don’t.

Local businesses drive our national economy, this is a fact. They’re the oil in the nation’s economic engine. Local business is the best ingredient for any community’s success.

Anyway, to tie it all back together, and where we all seemed to agree last night, is on one simple but very important point – ultimately the consumers need to decide. That is very powerful. It doesn’t matter what political party you belong to, you surely still want the same things for your community, for your children, your family, and for your neighbors – your community. At CitySquares we really believe in this. It’s the mission behind the business. It all begins with the local businesses. Supporting your local and independent businesses is critical for your community’s sustainability.

To wrap it up, here is a brief illustration of what’s known as The Multiplier Effect, which is explained nicely in this brief video clip from an independent film called Independent America.

– Ben