"Shop Local" Resonates With Politicians

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.

Mayor Phil Gordon presents Local First executive director Kimber Lanning with the framed proclamation declaring December 8 - 14 to be "Buy Local Week" in Phoenix.

In Roanoke, Virginia, U.S. Rep.-elect Tom Perriello (D), who still faces a recount and is not yet sworn into office, "is already taking care of constituents in Virginia's 5th congressional district" by encouraging visitors to his campaign website to shop locally, according to TV station WSLS.

Perriello has published a "Shop the Fifth" directory on his site and has sent an e-mail to 6,000 supporters, urging them to buy locally this holiday season. "This is a time that people are hurting so much, we've just got to get creative," Perriello told the station. "If we can help encourage people to shop right here at home and keep the money in the community that's a win-win for everybody."

Among the businesses on the list, which is still a work in progress, are indie bookstores The Little Shop on Main Street in Stanardsville and Charlottesville's New Dominion Bookshop, whose owner, Carol Truxell, said she was thrilled to see her bookstore being promoted by Perriello.

In Lititz, Pennsylvania, Republican State Senator Mike Brubaker featured downtown indie businesses in the December edition of his monthly TV show. A Conversation With Senator Brubaker, which airs on Blue Ridge Cable (Channel 11) on alternate Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays and on Comcast Lancaster (Channel 18) at various times, can also be viewed on the senator's website.

During the half-hour broadcast, the senator walks with Kelly Withum, downtown manager for Venture Lititz, to many of the area's unique indie businesses, including Aaron's Books. While they're strolling, Withum tells viewers that 98 percent of the downtown businesses in Lititz are indie, and that 68 cents of every dollar spent at a local indie is returned to the community. She also notes that indie businesses give back to the community by supporting baseball teams, soccer teams, schools, and the like.

At Aaron's, where Indiebound bags and materials are on display, Brubaker and Withum talk with husband-and wife owners Todd and Sam Dickenson and their six-year-old son, Aaron. Todd Dickenson tells viewers that the bookstore has been in business for three-and-a-half years, and the couple is "thrilled to be in a town that values independent stores."

And in Phoenix, Arizona, Mayor Phil Gordon recently joined with Local First Arizona to declare December 8 - 14 "Buy Local Week," before a crowd of about 100 local business owners and more than 30 members of the media.

The mayor's proclamation urges people to "keep your money where your home is!" because "dollars spent locally stay in the community up to three times more than those spent elsewhere!"

Tempe, Arizona's Changing Hands Bookstore, a sustaining member of Local First Arizona, helped spread the word about Buy Local Week through an e-mail blast to subscribers to its Calendar of Events and BookStories Newsletter. --Rosemary Hawkins