NFIB

Free to Grow
06/ 03/ 2003

by Shannon Scully

As fireworks burst overhead, Americans pause on the Fourth of July to recognize the benefits of democracy. That's why a few small business owners in Tampa think it's the perfect time to celebrate independent, locally owned businesses.

When Carla Jiminez's favorite ice cream shop closed last year, the co-owner of Inkwood Books (http;//www.Inkwood Books.com) in Tampa, Fla., realized how quickly independent shops were melting away.

"I don't have to read the newspapers to learn about the tough economy," says Jiminez, who co-owns a successful 1,400-square-foot book store less than three miles away from a big-box Barnes and Noble.

A few weeks before July 4 last year, Jiminez and her business partner, Leslie Rainer, got an idea. Why not use Independence Day to promote locally owned small businesses? Joining with about a dozen other local small business owners, the book sellers celebrated their independence the entire week of the Fourth to encourage customers to shop local businesses first.

"Carla came in to pick up soup one day and told me about the idea," says Maryann Ferenc-Blitz, owner of a 175-seat Tampa restaurant, Misen En Place. "I thought it was brilliant. It's a great tragedy that communities are losing the independent businesses that build the personality of a city. If we just have the same few national chain stores everywhere, things really become boring," says Ferenc-Blitz.

With Ferenc-Blitz on board, Jiminez called other independent businesses -- some because she knew the owners, others because she was a customer herself. Keenly aware they were all as short on time as she was, Jiminez just asked for their fax numbers. "I wasn't going to take up everyone's time explaining the plans."

On the faxed sheet, Jiminez invited the businesses to be a part of the celebration and asked them to donate at least $60 in gift certificates to their business. The certificates were redistributed among participating businesses, who held customer drawings during the promotion week.

A locally owned print shop donated posters to promote the event, Ferenc-Blitz collected the gift certificates and the planning was complete. "The beauty of the event is that we did it all without one meeting," says Jiminez.

Though traffic at retail stores is sometimes slow the week of the Fourth, Jiminez and Rainer noticed new faces browsing their bookshelves. "Customers were excited. They viewed it as a scavenger hunt and wanted to visit each business listed on the poster."

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This article originally appeared in the June/July 2003 issue of MyBusiness magazine.

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