Taking a Bite Out of Chain Competition: Shop Local Group to Launch in Sandwich

Vicky Uminowicz of Titcomb's Bookshop in East Sandwich, Massachusetts, freely admits that she wasn't always a big local first advocate. But a few years back, something changed her mind.

"I decided to launch a local first group after three years of haranguing from ABA," joked the founder of fledgling Shop Sandwich First. "I remember going to all these [ABA] Shop Local sessions. I came into the Shop Local philosophy with skepticism, but I went to every localism session I could -- at BookExpo America, the Winter Institute, and at NEIBA [New England Independent Booksellers Association] shows, and I really came to appreciate what the Shop Local movement means to the community in terms of preserving a town's unique character."

Uminowicz's open-mindedness, dedication, and hard work have now culminated in Shop Sandwich First. On Sunday, September 14, the group has scheduled a soft launch at an event at the local Sandwich Agway, featuring radio personality and gardening expert Paul Parent, who will be broadcasting from the garden center.

The goal of Shop Sandwich First, said Uminowicz, is to increase consumer awareness of all that Sandwich has to offer. Though there are no big box stores in Sandwich, there are plenty nearby. There is a Barnes & Noble and a Borders 10 miles away in Hyannis and a new big box complex 12 miles in the other direction, she said.

Shop Sandwich First came about because of a "wonderful confluence of events," Uminowicz told BTW. Last fall, NEIBA awarded a grant to Titcomb's Bookshop and the Sandwich Chamber of Commerce. The grant was then used to fund a survey by the Center for Marketing Research at UMass Dartmouth. The Center had sent Titcomb's an e-mail promoting its research capabilities at just the right time, and Uminowicz jumped at the opportunity to hire the Center to gauge consumer interest in the Shop Local movement, among other things.

The Dartmouth survey, which started in January 2008 and concluded in May, indicated that there was a place for a shop local movement in Sandwich. "I used that as a way of getting the group together. We've been meeting regularly since June -- every Wednesday at eight o'clock" -- to define the program and plan the strategy for implementation, Uminowicz reported.

Uminowicz noted that Shop Sandwich First has a very good relationship with the town's Chamber of Commerce. For one, the group is led by the Chamber's Retail Committee. Moreover, membership in the local first group comes as a free benefit of joining the Chamber of Commerce, as long as the business meets the Shop Sandwich First criteria. For non-Chamber members, Shop Sandwich First charges an annual $100 membership fee.

Members receive a window decal and marketing materials bearing the Shop Sandwich logo, IndieBound materials, including the "Here's What You Just Did" poster, a copy of the UMass Dartmouth Survey, a listing on the Chamber website, and inclusion in a brochure to be printed this spring.

At this Sunday's event, the group will have a table with information about Shop Sandwich First and will be selling daffodil bulbs donated by the garden center. All the money raised will be donated to the shop local program, and other indies will donate gift certificates and items to be raffled during the day.

This fall and in the spring, the Shop Sandwich First Retail Committee plans on contacting and visiting with all local businesses to educate them about Shop Sandwich First and to ask them to join. Uminowicz noted that the group plans to hand out small bags of daffodil bulbs with headers featuring the group's logo along with the phrase "Grow Your Business With Shop Sandwich First." Also, the group will be promoting local businesses during the town's annual Holly Days in Sandwich holiday celebration.

Shop Local Sandwich's official launch is tentatively planned for April. --David Grogan