Main Street/Shop Local

Last week, the Obama Administration announced plans for a "White House to Main Street" tour that will take the president to cities and towns across the country over the next few months to speak with workers and share ideas for the nation's continued economic recovery. President Obama sees the tour as an opportunity to "take the temperature on what Americans are experiencing during these challenging economic times," according to a White House press release.

The American Independent Business Alliance (AMIBA) is urging consumers in communities across the country to "unchain themselves" and to shop at local independent businesses on Saturday, November 21, the sixth annual celebration of America Unchained! Day.

ABA's popular list of notable Local First titles has received a makeover. Updated for 2009, the Indie Local First Reading List has a new design, new titles, new indie bookseller recommendations, and links to local first resources.

Tom Campbell and friends of The Regulator Bookshop in Durham, North Carolina, have created a campy, fun 1940s newsreel-style video with a serious message: Shopping local is green. The spot, "Just Around the Corner," uses archival and newly shot video to dramatize how a book shipped from an Internet retailer rather than bought at a local bookstore ups the carbon load in the environment significantly.

In the coming weeks, the American Booksellers Association and IndieBound will be updating the selected reading list of local first titles, a compilation of informative titles on the importance of building and strengthening a vibrant local economy.

"This year, the buzz around Independents Week preparation and celebration has been palpable," said Jennifer Rockne, director of the American Independent Business Alliance, the event's sponsor.

For Tattered Cover Book Store and indie record store Twist & Shout, neighbors in Denver's Lowenstein "CulturePlex," cross promotions have become a regular, and successful, way of doing business.

Indie bookstores have joined with a growing number of retailers, local independent business alliances, and community organizations to create Independents Week (July 1 - 7) celebrations, aimed at getting the word out about their unique contributions to the local economy.

This week, ABA CEO Oren Teicher gave a presentation at the National Association of Recording Merchandisers (NARM) convention, where he provided an introduction to the IndieBound movement and shared examples of how indie retailers working together could both promote sales and raise the public's awareness about the importance of independent retailers.