There's no place like home

Westchester County Business Journal, Aug 4, 2008 by Iarocci, Mary Sue

The popular food movement that urges people to "eat the view," meaning food that comes from nearby farms, has found a commercial cousin in the retail world. IndieBound, a program formed by the Tarrytown-based American Booksellers Association to empower independent retailers to take advantage of the localism movement is just such a vision.

"One of the things we have learned and understand very clearly in the development of a program that is by its very nature local: It's going to be different everywhere, there is no national, one-size-fits all kind of idea," said Oren J. Teicher, chief operating officer of the American Booksellers Association (ABA).

Teicher said consumers "are beginning to get that big isn't necessarily better."

"The competition is massive, but I think what independent retailers need to do is make shopping a personalized experience," Teicher said. "We have found in the last two years there has been a change in consumer attitudes about where they want to shop."

Teicher said Walmart has spent millions of dollars of market research money to find out that the word 'neighborhood' works in advertisements urging consumers to shop at their neighborhood Walmart.

He said the ABA did a study this past holiday season that found municipalities that had active, aggressive "shop local" campaigns did more business by a 3-to-1 ratio than those that did not have such a campaign.

"We don't know in quantifying terms as to how it's helped as far as numbers are concerned, but it definitely did bring an awareness of what the downtown has to offer," said Ravi Wadera, president of the Hastings-on-Hudson chamber of commerce, which began a "shop local" campaign last winter. "It's a long-term plan."

Peter Rockwood, owner of Rockwood & Perry Fine Wine & Spirits in Hastings-on-Hudson, said the downtown area is a critical matter for the quality of life and the value of real estate in the village.

"Supporting our local. merchants is especially important in today's economy," said Peter M. Riolo, a real estate salesperson at Peter J. Riolo Real Estate in Hastings-on-Hudson. "It is prudent to spend your hard earned dollars in a manner that will recycle through our community."

Teicher said the international council of shopping centers projected by the end of 2008 there will be 6,600 chain store closings across the United States, leaving "an incredible hole" in communities. "There is no doubt that the locally grown movement is clearly happening and happening with enormous success," Teicher said. "By leveraging your independence you've got something that the competition doesn't have."