El Paso Independent Business Alliance launching - American Independent Business Alliance AMIBA

November 9, 2005

Keep money at home
Spend at locally owned stores, help economy

Vic Kolenc
El Paso Times

Don Baumgardt likes to buy from locally owned businesses as much as possible.

"I enjoy going to local businesses" in El Paso and when traveling "to see different ideas and experience what the local flavor is," Baumgardt said.

That's why Baumgardt, owner of Piñata Publishing, which publishes the El Paso Visitors Guide for the El Paso Convention & Visitors Bureau, has recently joined with other local business owners to form Homegrown El Paso.

Its aim is to educate El Pasoans about the importance of supporting locally owned businesses for retaining both money and local flavor in El Paso .

The El Paso group, with more than 40 members and quickly growing, is catching a national "buy local" wave. The wave has spread in the past four years after the American Independent Business Alliance was formed. It now has 18 sister alliances across the nation, including in Albuquerque , Phoenix and Austin . The El Paso group plans to join the alliance.

Chambers of commerce around the nation, including the Greater El Paso Chamber of Commerce and El Paso Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, have had "buy local" programs for years. But the chambers are usually focused on business-to-business commerce. The new wave is largely focused on spreading its message to individual consumers. And membership is for businesses with local ownership and local autonomy. No franchises allowed.

"Studies have shown more money" from sales at locally owned businesses remains in the local economy than when those sales are at national chain stores, said Jeff Milchen, co-founder and outreach director of the American Independent Business Alliance, based in Bozeman, Mont.

One of the first studies to show the economic impact was in Austin . The Austin Independent Business Alliance in late 2002 commissioned a study. It found that for every $100 spent at a national bookstore chain, $13 remained in the local economy. But when spent at a locally owned bookstore, $45 of that $100 remained in the local economy.

"That study has been replicated all over the United States ... and has come up with the same conclusion," said Steve Bercu, co-owner of the BookPeople bookstore in Austin and founder of the 3-year-old Austin Business Alliance, which now has 325 members. "There's nothing wrong with chains. We just don't want the whole city to be chains.

" Austin has been extremely receptive to the message. ... We've all noticed increases in business" since the organization's message has been out, said Bercu, a former El Paso lawyer.

But the "buy local" message is not an easy sell.

"It's amazing when you talk to people, that it doesn't even occur to them that it makes a difference" to have local businesses, said Melissa O'Rourke, owner of 54-year-old Charlotte's, a West Side furniture, flooring and gift store, and a founding member of Homegrown El Paso. "It's good for a community to have a variety of options. ... People need a little gentle reminder to go to someone local."

Rosie Yanez, 40, an East El Paso resident and mother of three, said local ownership doesn't enter the equation when she goes shopping.

"I'm looking for the best deal," Yanez said Monday night as she left the Bassett Place Target store. "Bigger companies can (usually) offer better prices."

However, when it comes to eating out, she prefers a locally operated restaurant. "You get more of a home-cooking" flair at local restaurants, she said.

Martha Fernandez, 35, a West Side resident, said convenience is often at the top of the list when she's deciding where to shop. "Price also comes into play," she said Monday night after leaving the same Target store.

"I like chains for their variety," she said. "It's hard to think what is locally owned. Some small boutiques -- but they usually close (early)," Fernandez said. She said she'd give local shops more attention if she could identify them.

Baumgardt said that next week, Homegrown El Paso will begin putting decals with its logo on the doors of member businesses so people can identify them. It also will have special events next year to promote local businesses.

Marjorie Marinovic, 64, a West Side resident and UTEP accounting professor, doesn't need persuasion to shop local.

Profits from a national chain leave town, Marinovic said. But that's not the only reason she tries to shop at local stores.

"I feel more unique if I buy furniture at Charlotte's or buy clothes at Tres Mariposas (a West Side women's clothing store)," Marinovic said. "Maybe I like to go there because not everyone goes there and they treat you special. That's a marketing technique.

"(Local stores) have to offer uniqueness, quality and care of the customer," Marinovic said. "They have to go further and work harder (than chain stores) to make their money."

O'Rourke, who owns both Charlotte 's and the West Side Ethan Allen furniture store, said a local business can be "more responsive" to local tastes.

"Furniture tastes are different" around the country, "and it takes local ownership to respond to the region."

Those involved in Homegrown El Paso or other "buy local" alliances aren't expecting consumers to completely forgo chain operations or go to a local business just because it's local.

"It's important that every business earn the right and respect to do business in their community," said Mark Heins, owner of the 23-year-old Greenery Restaurant and Market in Sunland Park Mall and a Homegrown El Paso member. "Chains will always be there. But it's important for people to know who is locally owned."

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