Nationwide Survey Shows Gains for Independent Businesses in 2011 and Biggest Gains for Businesses Served by Groups Like Shop Local Raleigh and Sustain-a-Bull: Shop Independent Durham
The fifth annual post-holiday survey of independent businesses by the Institute for Local Self Reliance yielded powerful evidence that pro-local attitudes are growing and suggests Independent Business Alliances like Sustain-a-Bull and Shop Local Raleigh are yielding direct benefits for their members.
The survey tallied responses from 1768 businesses, all independent and locally-owned, across 49 states. About half were retailers. Among the notable results:
- A larger share (61%) of respondents reported revenue growth in 2011 compared to 2010.
- Independent retailers enjoyed stronger holiday sales than the retail sector as a whole.
- While overall holiday sales were up 4.1% in 2011, respondents (all independents) reported an average sales increase of 6.7%.
More than three-quarters of businesses surveyed said public awareness of the benefits of doing business locally had increased in the last year. Independent businesses in communities with an active “buy independent/buy local” campaign run by grassroots groups like Sustain-a-Bull and Shop Local Raleigh saw revenues grow 7.2% in 2011, compared to 2.6% for those in areas without an alliance. Looking solely at retail respondents, the survey found those in areas with an active alliance reported holiday sales growth of 8.5% in 2011, compared to 5.2% for retailers in areas without such an initiative.
“Throughout the holiday season, we were hearing anecdotally from independent business owners that they were especially busy and many customers were seeking out locally owned stores. The results of this survey suggest that this was indeed a widespread trend,” said Stacy Mitchell, senior researcher at the Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR).
“Here in Durham, we heard from many of our member businesses that their customers were focusing on local stores to do their holiday shopping,” said Amy Campbell, Sustain-a-Bull’s Program Coordinator. “This has an exponential effect, as those local merchants and their employees then do their holiday shopping locally, and so on, which keeps even more money in our local economy.”
“Shop Local Raleigh members reported that they saw many new faces this holiday season and many of those faces said they have started to realize how important it is to support their local businesses and to keep their community unique,” said Jennifer Martin of Shop Local Raleigh.
Sustain-a-Bull and Shop Local Raleigh are members of the American Independent Business Alliance (AMIBA), a national network of more than 80 community alliances supporting local entrepreneurs. “We know independent businesses are key to leading the way out of recession. The survey results confirm the growing number of communities refocusing energy on local entrepreneurs, rather than transient corporations, are receiving a great payback from their investment,” said Jennifer Rockne, co-director of the AMIBA.
Sustain-a-Bull and Shop Local Raleigh organize events throughout the year that promote the importance of shopping locally to our local economy. Visit their websites at www.sustainabull.net and www.shoplocalraleigh.org to find out more about upcoming events and how you can get involved.
For the full report (pdf) by the ILSR, see: http://tinyurl.com/ilsr2012
