Deadline Jan. 12th - 2010 Independent Retailer Study

Submitted by Anonymous on Mon, 01/11/2010 - 4:55pm

Study Will Highlight Impacts of "Local First" and "Buy Local" Campaigns

Please participate in the 2010 Independent Business Survey conducted by the Institute for Local Self-Reliance! It takes just 5-10 minutes as it only has a handful of brief questions. You can access the survey online by clicking here. Further details about the survey are below.

The survey closes tomorrow, Tuesday, January 12th at midnight Pacific time. Thus far, the survey has 300 fewer business respondents than in 2009.

Background on the survey: Institute for Local Self-Reliance
Last year, many BALLE networks partnered with the Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR) and a wide range of other independent business groups, including the American Booksellers Association and the American Independent Business Alliance, on a national survey of independent businesses.

The short survey had two goals: to gauge how independent businesses were faring in the downtown and to assess whether people are more aware and supportive of shopping locally and supporting independent businesses.

More than 1100 businesses responded to the survey, which found that independent businesses on average were faring a bit better than many of their chain competitors and, more importantly, that those in communities with strong Buy Local/Local First campaigns were outperforming local businesses in cities without such campaigns. More on these survey results can be found here.

The findings have since appeared in well over 100 media stories and have helped bring visibility to this growing movement and spotlight the effectiveness of Local First campaigns.

Once again, ILSR will be happy to breakout the results for your community provided that at least 20 businesses in your area participate.

If you have any questions about the survey, please contact the study lead, Stacy Mitchell, directly.