This is the fourth year that Flagstaff Business Alliance (FiBA) and Friends of Flagstaff’s Future (F3) spearheaded a multi-partner collaborative effort to promote shopping at locally owned businesses during the holiday season. A strong independent economy is a key goal for both organizations that work to promote a livable, prosperous community.
This year, the emphasis was specifically on the difference between “local” and “locally owned.” “And there is a big difference,” explained Hadassah Ziegler, FiBA board member and co-founder of Rooftop Solar. “The term ‘local’ includes all the big box and chain stores, where more than 50 percent of your money leaves our community. Whereas ‘locally owned’ means that over 70 percent of your money stays here.” Locally owned businesses pay local taxes, which fund schools, infrastructure, police, and other essential community needs. “But it extends far beyond that,” said Eilise Fisher owner of Fizzy Bella, an all-natural handcrafted beauty boutique. “Local business owners reinvest the money they earn back in the community on a daily basis. We live here, we send our kids to local schools, we dine out, and of course we shop at other locally owned businesses. So it is not only the tax dollars that are re-circulating in the community, it is our profits and earnings too.”
When shopping at a locally owned business, your money goes further than a dollar shipped off to a corporate headquarters in another county, state or country. “It’s not a complicated concept,” explained Meg Williams of Local First AZ, also a partner on this effort. “But looking at the actual numbers is mind blowing. They speak for themselves.” According to a “local impact calculator” model created by her organization, if we each shifted as little as 10 percent of our spending to locally owned businesses, Flagstaff alone would generate 163 new jobs and create over $13 million new dollars re-circulating in the community.
“The character and the charm of Flagstaff are reflected in the independent and locally owned stores,” said Lisa Lamberson of locally owned and family run Mountain Sports, a four-season supplier for all Patagonia apparel, and the organizer of the “Shop Indie This Christmas” challenge. “To continue having a vibrant town, one that is unique and highly desirable, people must invest in the businesses that make it such,” added Katy Lu Peterson of Flagstaff Sports Exchange, a hometown clearinghouse for gently used sporting goods. Stacey Hamburg, an F3 board member, recently returned to Flagstaff after living elsewhere for a few years. “We came back because there is no place like Flagstaff. It’s an amazing combination of the natural environment and the locally owned businesses that give this place its unique feel.”
This year, the Shop Locally Owned Holiday Campaign aims to remind consumers about the significance of their choices. This effort included a signed Mayoral Proclamation read during the Lighting of the Tree ceremony, declaring December the official Shop Locally Owned month. It also included colorful flyers put up in store windows identifying them as locally owned. Finally over 2,000 unique stickers were handed out to consumers, with the “I Shopped Locally Owned” message.
Similar to the “I Voted” or “I Donated Blood,” these personal oval stickers were intended to generate a sense of pride in those making informed consumer choices. “I love these stickers! I am so glad you added them this year,” said Miranda Drabik of Rainbow’s End, a women’s clothing store downtown. Christina Norlin, creator of Raven’s Eye Creative Werks, an art studio for custom sandblasted glass and Tibetan bead jewelry, used the stickers on all of her gift bags, and Morning Glory, a locally owned vegetarian café placed them on their holiday salsa jars, tamales and cookies.
The holidays are one of America’s biggest spending seasons, and according to the National Retail Federation, over $54 billion was spent during the 2013 Thanksgiving weekend alone. It’s hard to quantify the direct effects of this campaign. But seeing people walk out of a store with an “I Shopped Locally Owned” sticker on their coats really sends the message that residents of Flagstaff understand the value of our dollar, and that we as consumers chose to invest in our community and keep our money where our home is, by spending it at locally owned businesses! FBN
Moran Henn is the director for Friends of Flagstaff’s Future, a local profit organization working to promote a sustainable, socially just, and economically viable Flagstaff. For more information about the Shop Local Campaign and F3’s activities visit www.friendsofflagstaff.org. Moran can be reached at [email protected]