Bookseller Founds Alliance to Help Kalamazoo Independents

Like so many towns across the country today, Kalamazoo, Michigan's local economy is hurting. Only recently, the Pfizer drug company pulled up stakes and left; National City Corp. is laying off employees; there's a lack of available jobs; and though there are three colleges in town, the community and its businesses are feeling the pinch of tough times.

But while Kalamazoo's economy may be stagnant, the area's independent retailers are not.

Gloria Tiller of Kazoo Books recently founded the Buy Local Kalamazoo independent business alliance (IBA) as a way to help the town and its local business owners. "Michigan has been struggling economically," she said. "It's the lowest [ranked] state in terms of economic growth. Businesses are struggling, and this alliance is like a lifeline. We want to unite businesses and make ourselves much more visible."

Tiller had been thinking of starting an IBA for some time, and the town's economic plight gave her a reason to do it sooner, rather than later. "If you're spending your money with local businesses, you're keeping it in the community," she said. "We need to heighten the awareness." With the official launch of Buy Local Kalamazoo about four weeks from now, Tiller hopes to spread the message throughout her community.

Tiller credits the Great Lakes Booksellers Association and the American Booksellers Association for giving her other reasons to start an IBA. "GLBA and ABA have been pushing the Buy Local movement for a couple of years, and I've been wanting to do this, but I had no local support," she said. After the GLBA trade show in October, however, she "began pounding the pavement." What she found was that, while local business owners were interested in joining an IBA, they had no time to help found it. "They said, when you get organized, give us a call and we'll join."

Undaunted, Tiller did just that. Buy Local Kalamazoo was born in January of this year and joined the American Independent Business Alliance (AMIBA) through a GLBA-AMIBA partnership, which offers a steep discount off the normal first-year cost of affiliating with AMIBA. Now, Buy Local Kalamazoo has 45 prospective members, and Tiller hopes to have 100 members when the alliance is officially launched in May.

Since January, Buy Local Kalamazoo has held about three meetings and garnered a lot of publicity. An article about the group's launch appeared in the Kalamazoo Gazette and a segment featuring Tiller and the bookstore was aired on Fox News 17.

So many businesses are now interested in joining Buy Local Kalamazoo, Tiller said, "I took AMIBA's advice and followed their guidelines to form a steering committee, which has nine people on it."

Kalamazoo already boasts a Downtown Retailers Association; however, that group is not restricted to independent businesses. "We have a strong downtown," Tiller said. "It has art centers, artisan groups, and theater." But Tiller, whose two bookstores are not located downtown, sees Buy Local Kalamazoo as a group for the "rest of us."

Though it's been a lot of work, Tiller is excited about Buy Local Kalamazoo's prospects -- and the future of her community. "We're going to see the change," she said. --Dave Grogan