Business & Tech

POLL: Do You Buy Local?

Local business associations' holiday marketing campaigns are getting into full swing.

Why do you buy local?

Earlier this month, two local business associations kicked off campaigns to boost area shoppers' "buy local" habits. The Southwest Journal has the full details. One, from the Metro Independent Business Alliance, takes the form of a gift guide based on the offerings of local businesses. The other, from Southwest-based Nicollet-East Harriet Business Association is turning heads among some local business owners with what might seem like a fairly old concept: the business directory. 

"I love it," A Little Bird On Grand owner Jodi Sandberg told Patch. "You can see how convenient it is to go from one shop to the other."

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Each guide includes a map of Nicollet-East Harriet half of Southwest Minneapolis, with each business' location marked. It's a feature Sandberg says has been invaluable: Hers is not only a new business, but located at 48th and Grand, she doesn't get as many new walk-in customers as businesses at other, busier corners, and has to rely on word-of-mouth marketing. She told Patch last week that she's received many new customers over the last two weeks who discovered her through Nicollet-East Harriet pamphlets they picked up at , another new Southwest gifty business 10 blocks due north.

Over at Digs, owner Linda Schneewind said she's giving away the brochures "like crazy." While it's hard to measure the campaign's impact so far, Schneewind told Patch she loves it.

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"I could never reach this many people on by own," she said. "It packs more of a wallop this way—we (shop owners) pitch in a little and it goes a long way."


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