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MetroIBA Press Clippings
Today's Star Tribune includes an article explaining how the big book chains use their size to sell a hot new book - in this case the new Harry Potter title - at prices lower than independent stores can even get from the publisher. MetroIBA members are profiled on their approach to the big day for Harry Potter fans. A sampling of Twin Cities independents found that they bought their copies of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" for 40 to 46 percent less than the $34.99 list price, depending on whether they ordered from a wholesaler or from the publisher, Scholastic Corp.
An interesting article from the UK. Puts a different perspective on our own "Wine for Dinner" wars. by Victoria Moore
The Guardian
Thursday, April 5, 2007
There are furrowed foreheads among the bargain hunters in Tesco at Earl's Court, west London. It's a rainy Saturday afternoon and I am skulking - strictly for research purposes, I promise - observing how shoppers choose their drink. A man in his early 30s picks up a bottle of red bordeaux. Then he puts it back again. Then he picks it up. Goodness, this is an agonising business. Five minutes later, still undecided, he has involved a stranger, a well-heeled middle-aged woman, in the debate. The dilemma is this: the bottle in question looks classy, but is the fact that it is on sale at half price, reduced from £9.99 to £4.99, also a good thing? Or a con, a too-good-for-there-not-to-be-a-catch kind of thing? In the end, both decide that there must be some benefit to the offer, and go with it.
by Elliott Mann
Stillwater Gazette
Thursday, January 26, 2007
STILLWATER - A smattering of downtown Stillwater business owners and local politicians filled the back room of the Dock Café Thursday night, contesting what the business owners see as extreme property tax increases.
The meeting's focus, said state Sen. Kathy Saltzman (DFL-Woodbury), was to identify what can be done to alleviate some of the pressure the latest round of property taxes has had on downtown businesses.
"I looked at all the numbers, I can see what happened, but I really want to hear the stories," Saltzman said. "Tell me your stories - what is it going to do to your business?"
Fox9 News and Kare11 News were just two of the news outlets on hand to cover the event on Thursday encouraging folks to shop local. The event was hosted by Mayor Chris Coleman, Councilmember Jay Benanav, the Metro Independent Business Alliance, Choo-Choo Bob's, and other Marshall/Cleveland businesses. View Fox 9 coverage:
 View Kare11 coverage (Windows Media Player required) Kare11 story »
Independent Shops Like Choo-Choo Bob's Keep More Money in Community, Some Leaders Say by Jason Hoppin, St. Paul Pioneer Press Once upon a time, there was a script for many little boys' Christmas Eves. It went like this: Make sure the cookies and milk are out, tell Santa Claus how good you've been (even if you did pull your sister's hair at summer camp) and remind him not to forget the electric train set you've been hoping for. If you were lucky, there it would be Christmas morning, magically winding around a track set up beneath the Christmas tree. St. Paul businessman Bob Medcraft, owner of Choo Choo Bob's train shop at 2050 Marshall Ave., is hoping that in this era of Xboxes and Tickle Me Elmos, trains haven't been permanently crossed off holiday wish lists.
From the _Star Tribune_'s "Taste" section, Thursday, October 19, 2006 What: Discover independently owned metro-area pizza places and their delivery areas (all mapped by a group of students from the University of Minnesota's Humphrey Institute). And learn how patronizing locally owned businesses positively impacts the local economy. It's probably not as wonky as it sounds (the free pizza helps). Sponsored by the Metro Independent Business Alliance. When: 4 to 6 p.m., next Thursday. Where: Snap! Pizza and Ice Cream, 2851 NE. Johnson St., Minneapolis. Call 612-706-9073 for details. »
Check out this news of a new bookstore, right below MetroIBA member Nina's Coffee Cafe in St. Paul. By Mary Lynn Smith Star-Tribune, Friday, September 15, 2006 A Garrison Keillor-owned bookstore below Nina's Coffee Cafe in St. Paul could be just the extra shot needed to turn the corner of Western and Selby into a national literary magnet, business owners and city leaders said Thursday. For the full story, see-- http://www.startribune.com/384/story/676906.html »
"Most processes in the natural world--the decomposition of leaves, the growth of trees, the pollination of flowers--are slow by human standards. Even things that appear fast, such as falling rain, move slowly in the embrace of nature. The rainwater dripping down to the forest floor slowly soaks into the soil and gradually percolates down to the water table, recharging the soil aquifer. But what happens when humans replace forests with parking lots? In this case, the rainwater is not able to recharge the aquifer. Instead, it rushes across blacktop into culverts and then to streams. Hence, when rainwater moves too quickly, it is lost from the ecosystem, and soil aquifers fail to recharge.
MetroIBA Members and Friends-- This article-- http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0724/p13s02-lifo.html
--which appeared in the Christian Science Monitor the week of July 24, 2006, has caused a stir among our parent organization, the American Independent Business Alliance (AMIBA), and its affliates. I find some of the author's arguments tenuous--we should buy food from developing countries because the farmer may have harvested it with a donkey rather than a high-tech, carbon-spewing tractor?--but it's always good to know what we're up against.
By Heidi Benson San Francisco Chronicle, Sunday, July 23, 2006 As independent bookstores scramble to compete with chain stores and online retailers, one small Marin County bookseller found a way to survive. He got rid of the books. "The space was so small that people sitting in the cafe were practically on top of the bookshelves," said Gary Kleinman, who founded BookBeat in Fairfax in 1999. "You couldn't get to the books." So, last fall, Kleiman jettisoned seven bookcases from the center of the cozy, wood-paneled shop--keeping those just along the walls--and gave most of the store's 4,000 books to charity.\
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