Buy Local press conference - at the mall?
It's not April first yet, so I couldn't really stop my jaw from dropping to the ground on this one: The Richmond-Wayne County Chamber of Commerce and the City of Richmond will be holding a press conference tomorrow afternoon to promote buying local - to be held at the mall, which is predominantly occupied by chain stores.
It seems like QUITE an unfortunate juxtaposition to me to have this kind of announcement in that kind of setting.
Malls like the Richmond Square Mall certainly provide great shopping opportunities, but tend to be populated by businesses that are not locally owned and that give less back to the local economy and community over the long run than businesses that are locally owned. In most "buy local" campaigns across the country, one of the primary goals is to get shoppers to expand their notion of shopping opportunities beyond "the mall" to once again consider what small business districts and downtowns have to offer.
If Richmond residents think that buying local just means going to a shop within city limits, the potential impact of the buy-local message is diluted as their dollars leave the community for corporate headquarters elsewhere.
I asked the Chamber and Mayor's office to reconsider the venue - feel free to do the same if you're so inclined.
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As the Pal-Item story says: "The more dollars that are spent with local retail, service, construction and other types of businesses, the more likely those businesses are to be able to retain jobs and experience growth, Chamber officials say." For the Chamber I'm betting it's about the jobs & tax dollars more than the brand name. And keeping business--*any* business--in Richmond, is preferable to having an empty shell of a mall, at least in the eyes of the local business community. I agree that locally owned businesses should be highlighted and fiercely promoted, and the so-called "uptown" area or the Depot district would be a better choice to hold the press conference. But with the government, as I think we're gonna see with Obama, it moves in small increments. Sometimes you've gotta take what you can get, and hope that the local fever spreads to locally owned businesses once you convince folks that you can stay in Richmond and get everything you need. Plus, I'm gonna guess that the mall has a good amount of pull in the local Chamber. Is it possible that rising the tide of the mall lifts all ships? At least it's a start, even if it's a small one.