Last December, the Smiley Pete publications reported on a new grassroots, non-profit organization that had formed in Lexington with the mission of promoting one of the community's most important cultural and economic aspects: the city's locally owned, independent businesses. A year later, Local First Lexington has increased membership more than threefold, and this magazine is revisiting the movement to not only report on their inaugural year, but also to remind our readers, amid the holiday shopping frenzy, of the local businesses that make Lexington unique. Smiley Pete Publishing is a member of Local First Lexington.
Lexington, KY
Decades after the rise of shopping malls and "big box" chain stores began effectively dismantling Main Streets across America, locally owned, independent retailers are staking claims in their communities with a renewed fervor. More than 130 cities have now launched "Buy Local" or "Local First" campaigns, creating an informal but far-reaching allied network of over 30,000 independent businesses across the country.
According to a series of studies conducted by the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, despite the economic downfall, the buy-local movement has been highly effective for locally owned businesses. A survey of over 1,100 locally owned businesses conducted in January 2009 showed that while national retail sales during the 2008 holiday shopping season were down almost 10 percent overall, independent retailers fared considerably better, with an average decline of closer to 5 percent. Perhaps even more notable is that independent retailers in cities with buy-local campaigns had dropped an average of only 3 percent.
"Last year was my biggest Christmas ever," said Mary Ginocchio, a Local First Lexington board member and owner of Lexington gift and linen shop Mulberry & Lime. Ginocchio, who had years of experience working for national and international retailers before opening her own store eight years ago, has made a point of highlighting the impacts of shopping at locally owned businesses with her customers and with potential LFL-member businesses alike.
"It just makes perfect sense, economically, culturally, environmentally," she said. "There's so much more vested interest when you go local."
"Last year when we were given all the gloomy news, in September, October, I decided I was not going to focus on that," Ginocchio added. "When the news hit that it was so bad, I think I even made calls to slow orders down, and then I thought, 'You know what? I'm going forward.'"
The decision, combined with Ginocchio's particularly vocal stance on buying local since the inception of LFL, has served her business well - 2009 is poised to be an even bigger year for Mulberry & Lime than 2008, the store's biggest year in its eight-year history.
Local First Lexington may have gotten off to a relatively quiet start in the fall of 2008, but the organization has hit a number of milestones since then. Perhaps most notably, membership, which included less than 40 businesses when this magazine reported on the organization a year ago, now includes over 150 businesses. Other first-year milestones include hosting the first Local First Business Fair in October; becoming a member of the national organization AMIBA (American Independent Business Alliance), and - a favorite turning point among the volunteer LFL board members - hiring the organization's first employee. Christin Helmuth was employed just last month to serve as a Local First Lexington staff administrator, handling much of the day-to-day administrative duties, including processing the member applications that are steadily streaming in, and responding to queries by the general public about the group.
"I think (hiring Helmuth) is a big step for us as a group because it will really allow us to communicate with our members on a more regular, consistent basis," said LFL president and co-founding member Steve Baron. "This will basically take us to the next level in terms of our visibility to the community and the service that we provide to our member businesses."
One of the most valuable services that Local First Lexington offers its member businesses is a listing on the group's online business directory (www.localfirstlexington.com). Member businesses are grouped by category (such as dining and entertainment, retail, and services) and listings include a brief description of the business or organization, a link to their Web site, contact information and a map of their location. The directory reflects a variety of different types of businesses, including auto services, community organizations and even hair salons. For an out-of-towner looking for a unique Lexington experience, the directory could serve as a scripture. And even a veteran Lexingtonian could likely discover something new about their town by perusing the list.
"Not everyone is really going to buy into the Local First concept. A lot of people really don't care," Baron admitted. Baron, whose independent music store, CD Central, has taken hits by the poor economy, the national decline in record sales and now the South Limestone construction, particularly appreciates the difference that shopping locally can make. "But the people who do care, they're going to want to seek out businesses that they don't know about. The website membership directory is a really good point of reference.
"I've always said, shop at all local businesses - it doesn't matter if they're a member of our group or not," he added. "But here's a list, a good place to get started. These are the businesses that are interested enough in spreading this concept that they're supporting our organization to do it."
While the directory listing alone could easily be considered well worth the annual LFL dues (which range from $75 for businesses with up to five employees to $150 for businesses with over 25 employees), Baron said that many members appreciate the opportunity to network with other like-minded business owners. The group holds quarterly meetings at different member businesses, with occasional special events and informal get-togethers in between those meetings.
Bill Allen, president of Bank of the Bluegrass, a long-standing locally owned bank that has been a member of LFL since early on, said he enjoys being able to get together with local business owners to discuss what's working and not working within those organizations.
"It provides the opportunity to form some synergies," Allen said. "I think there's a lot of value that can come from those types of interactions."
Networking with other locally owned businesses is a successful marketing technique for many independent merchants, including Barney Miller's, a family-run home theater and electronics shop that joined Local First Lexington last month. Owner Barney Miller said he has long referred his customers to other independent businesses for services his store can't provide, and he has a number of business allies who return the favor. His downtown store has a countertop that displays business cards and pamphlets for other local businesses - it's a display you'd be hard-pressed to find at any non-independent business.
"We work together. It makes it better for the customer," said Miller, whose store celebrated its 87th birthday this year. "It's really important for the community to support local businesses."
"It seemed obvious for us to support Local First," said Fran Taylor, executive director of the Keeneland Association, which also joined LFL last month. "Keeneland would never have been established or succeeded without local support."
Taylor recalled a story about Hal Price Headley, Keeneland's first president, who refused a generous offer of funding from a prominent national investor by telling him "no handouts would be accepted - this will be a community track built by hometown folks."
"We understand the importance of supporting home-grown businesses," Taylor added. "They define our community, and along with our people, landscape and architecture, they are what sets (Lexington) apart from 'Anytown, USA.'"
All in all, LFL president Baron is pleased with the growth the group has seen in its first year.
"The growth has been good," he said. "The membership level is really gratifying, and businesses keep coming on that I didn't know about, and had no idea they would want to join."
"We haven't been able to do everything we've talked about, and that's mostly due to time and manpower concerns," Baron added. "But joining a national organization, getting a staff administrator on board, having our first local business fair - these are all big steps. Next year we're going to do even more, I'm confident of it."