Covering retail tactics along Main Street

Chain store closings, like the recent demise of Circuit City and Starbucks’ coffee-shop contraction, make national headlines.

But small shops and eateries, with fewer resources and lower profiles, are even more likely to suffer in a recession. Their plight, going into the ever-crucial fourth quarter retailing season, is well worth a second look.

If you cover an area with a venerable shopping district or small biz cluster, consider planning a standing feature to run from early October to year-end, with a weekly check-in, multimedia (interactive maps, interviews, behind-the-scenes video) and other elements that chronicle the season as it unfolds.

A growing angle: “Shop local” campaigns sponsored by business associations, chambers of commerce and other stakeholders. The marketing spins prompt area residents to head to neighborhood shops instead of chain stores to support the local economy.

One such effort getting a lot of attention this year is called the 3/50 Project.

It’s a simple premise: Participants ask residents to pick three locally owned businesses and spend $50 a month in them. Campaign organizers claim that if half of American shoppers did so, local merchants would benefit by more than $42 billion.

Kriss Rogers is president of the Uptown Merchants Association in Westerville, Ohio, which features a quaint maze of 19th Century storefronts north of Columbus. She started displaying 3/50 signage at her garden-themed gift shop, Outdoor Envy, last spring. A few months ago, she started signing up other local storekeepers and says the community is responding.

“I would say one out of three customers will read it and comment in a positive way,” said Rogers. “Lately they’ll come in and say ‘I thought I’d see if you have what I wanted before going to the mall.”

The 3/50 Project site lists retail participants by state; for other initiatives in your area dig around or contact the Chamber of Commerce.

Some noteworthy efforts nationwide:

• “Keep Louisville Weird” in Louisville, Ky. http://www.keeplouisvilleweird.com/
• Baltimore’s neighborhoods ran a “Miracle on Main Streets” campaign last year. http://www.miracleonmainstreets.com/
• Hancock County, Miss. plans again this year to run its “Holiday at Home” http://www.hancockchamber.org/HolidayCampaign/HolidayGoodCheer1.asp campaign urging residents to shop and dine at grass roots businesses this fall and Christmas season.

Other things to keep in mind: Neighborhood and downtown districts this year will try to gin up resident interest with festivals, special shopping events, sidewalk sales and other promotions – dig into the cost/benefit dilemma merchants face when being asked to sponsor these community relations events.

And be on the lookout for innovations. Rogers says her association has issued a gift card good at 16 local shops, to compete with the convenience of universal mall gift cards. Other cities issue scrip or vouchers good at local stores.

Round out your story with analyst commentary and statistics. For nationwide perspective, try the Main Street center of the National Trust for Historic Preservation in Washington, D.C. The center’s site also features its State of Main Street 2009 report.

Many of the campaigns claim that dollars spent locally benefit the community with a “multiplier effect,” meaning they are recycled through the local economy in the form of wages and spending by the area merchants, compared to cash that is whisked into corporate coffers.

Many of the citations regarding the multiplier effect are vague; I’d suggest checking for real-life data from a consulting firm such as Civic Economics, which does nationwide studies out of offices in Chicago and Austin, Texas.

For data, explore the U.S. Census Bureau’s retail portal. Among other things, it’s got a ZIP-code searchable database of business establishments by type and size; that will give you a look at how local shops are dwindling or multiplying. Census Bureau analyst can help you mine the data further.


Come back to Your Daily Tipsheet each morning for advice on where to find sources, background and creative ways to make financial news and trends relevant to your audience.

Resale Earns Respect

Thrift shopping’s image has gone from shabby to chic over the past year or so, with all sorts of newly minted ‘frugalistas’ touting the joys of secondhand bargains on approximately 9 million new personal blogs and message boards devoted to saving money during a recession.

Those of us who’ve long been able to spot a piece of vintage Fiesta ware at 50 feet, or snap up a never-worn black cashmere swing coat for a song, have viewed the energetic new competition with alarm.

But there is no question about it: Secondhand stores are mainstream these days and as such, belong in your business pages, as small business stories, sources for money-saving tips, reflections of the local economy, new tenants for vacant commercial space and other facets of the financial prism.

This year, the National Retail Federation even queried consumers about resale shopping for its venerable back-to-school sales survey. Discount stores still reign supreme but 18 percent of shoppers polled said they’ll be hitting thrift shops for school-days deals.

They’ll have plenty from which to choose. The National Association of Retail and Thrift Shops estimates that there are 25,000 to 30,000 non-profit and for-profit thrift, consignment and retail shops nationwide. In a recent survey, 64 percent of NARTS members reported that second-quarter sales were up an average 31 percent in 2009 compared to the same three months in 2008.

Two-thirds of sellers also said the volume of incoming inventory (traditionally from individuals looking to sell off discarded goods) also was up, and the quality of items had increased. In other words, dollar-wise consumers are cleaning out closets and donating goods for a tax write-off or consigning them to sale in hopes of a profit.

Audiences love to read about bargains and the multimedia/graphic possibilities abound – list of area thrift shops, tips from proprietors about how to make the most of consignment sales, tips from savvy consumers about how to unearth the best find. For the latter, just Google something like “garage sale queen” or “yard sale fanatic,” to find plenty of blogs by homegrown experts. Show readers what they can get for a $20 bill and two hours. Video a seasoned secondhander on the hunt.

A few resellers, like Plato’s Closet, Play It Again Sports and Children’s Orchard, are corporate franchises. Many more are mom-and-pop. Check out Too Good To Be Threw, the commercial site of veteran thrift store owner and how-to author Kate Holmes. She’s so immersed in the lifestyle she’s also written a resale-themed murder mystery! Resale.net has lots of interesting grass-roots links, and The National Flea Market Association is a portal to casual and weekend resellers; again, conversations with these folks can lead to pithy insights into your local economy. The NFAA even offers a “Flea Finder” interactive map linking to market sites state-by-state.

The main difficulty in covering the secondhand economy is finding objective third parties to help with perspective. Most academic and bank analysts don’t bother tracking used-goods stores. One source of expert commentary is the professional group for what used to be called ‘home ec.’ The media relations staff at the American Association of Family and Consumer Sciences will help you find experts who can talk about consumer habits and trends in your area.

Come back to Your Daily Tipsheet each morning for advice on where to find sources, background and creative ways to make financial news and trends relevant to your audience.