Again: "Buy thoughtfully and support our entrepreneurs and community businesses."

Originally published here on November 22, 2012.

Black Friday's a hard habit to break, I imagine. Not unlike smoking cigarettes, although for me, it's a bad habit I never began. "Cold turkey" may be an appropriate Thanksgiving analogy, but it isn't the most apt.

Shift happens.

Begin thinking about your expenditures by devoting a percentage of them to small independent businesses. Shift as you can, and shift where you can. Gradual shifting is just fine. Plaid Friday, not black.

And so on.

That Day After Thanksgiving,by Kate Caufield (New Albany 365)

... But part of understanding ourselves and our role in the local and national economy is realizing the impact of our buying habits. Where we spend our money determines much about how the country moves forward, and how we treat our workforce- as well as which political and moral causes get funded by the corporations where we shop. I don't want to create a political divide by assigning attributes to either side, but there are some really strong cases for bipartisan support of indie and small businesses. If we buy cheaply made items from another country at a mass discount at a mega chain, then that's what we'll continue to get. If we buy thoughtfully and support our entrepreneurs and community businesses, that's what will begin to thrive.

"Buy thoughtfully and support our entrepreneurs and community businesses."

Black Friday's a hard habit to break, I imagine. Not unlike smoking cigarettes, although for me, it's a bad habit I never began. "Cold turkey" may be an appropriate Thanksgiving analogy, but it isn't the most apt. Shift happens. Begin thinking about your expenditures by devoting a percentage of them to small independent businesses. Shift as you can, and shift where you can. Gradual shifting is just fine. Plaid Friday, not black. And so on.

That Day After Thanksgiving,by Kate Caufield (New Albany 365)

... But part of understanding ourselves and our role in the local and national economy is realizing the impact of our buying habits. Where we spend our money determines much about how the country moves forward, and how we treat our workforce- as well as which political and moral causes get funded by the corporations where we shop. I don't want to create a political divide by assigning attributes to either side, but there are some really strong cases for bipartisan support of indie and small businesses. If we buy cheaply made items from another country at a mass discount at a mega chain, then that's what we'll continue to get. If we buy thoughtfully and support our entrepreneurs and community businesses, that's what will begin to thrive.

Black is out: Indie shopping is in, and Plaid Friday is November 23.

NABC is a founding member of New Albany First, which is our city’s independent business association (IBA). It is the New Albany version of the Louisville Independent Business Alliance (LIBA), which encourages you to Keep Louisville Weird), and is dedicated to encouraging the public to support independently owned, small local businesses.

IBAs accomplish this through three primary focus areas:

1. Public education about the greater overall value local independents often can provide (even when they are not the cheapest) as well as the vital economic, social and cultural role independent businesses play in the community.

2. Facilitating cooperative promotion, advertising, purchasing, sharing of skills and resources and other activities to help local businesses gain economies of scale and compete more effectively.

3. Creating a strong and uncompromised voice to speak for local independents in the local government and media while engaging citizens in guiding the future of their community through democratic action.

NABC and our brethren sink or swim as locally oriented independents, and many of us have pledged support via New Albany First. Happily, the approaching holiday season provides a perfect opportunity to put principles into action.

We all know that “Black Friday” (November 23) is the biggest sales day of the year for big boxes and multinational chain stores -- the ones where the money flees town for corporate headquarters worldwide. In response to media hype and saturation advertising, which steer so much trade to the country's biggest, richest and largest companies on “Black Friday,” the American Independent Business Alliance (AMIBA), of which New Albany First is a member, promotes Shift Your Shopping, of which Plaid (as opposed to Black) Friday is a component.

Instead of Black Friday it’s PLAID FRIDAY! Shift Your Shopping and wear plaid as you shop on Friday to remind yourself and others to make the 10% Shift. The 10% Shift encourages you to shift 10% of your holiday purchases from non-local businesses to Local Independents (also called indies or locally owned and independent businesses). Making the shift to local independents is one way we can build sustainable economies and create jobs in our local community.

It’s simple. You're not being asked to go cold turkey -- just allocate a percentage to independent local businesses, and learn what they can do for you. New Albany First can help locate indies, and another good idea is to follow the "buy local" answer woman, Kate Caufield, whose blog is devoted precisely to this topic: New Albany 365. Local independent business thank you for your support.

Note: Plaid Friday is part of NABC's annual slate of activities around Thanksgiving. For more details, go here.

Caufield: "What makes a town livable, unique, and a place that one desires to reside?"

Here's the blog link: New Albany 365. My advice to Kate is to refrain from doing your civic duty and running for office. Columns can disappear when you do that.

CAUFIELD: The New Albany 365 experiment, by Kate Caufield (News and Tribune)

... What makes a town livable, unique, and a place that one desires to reside?

It’s the unique, independent businesses that locate there, and the residents who take their hard-earned money and spend it there. It’s the towns that recognize that though the ubiquitous chains bring temporary jobs and short lived cash injections, it is the small, independently owned, and local businesses that make them vibrant, thriving, and sustainable.

Recently, yet another study has emerged that shows the impact on a local economy of buying at an indie, local business is roughly four times the impact of shopping at a box store — depending on what type of establishment. The study can be found here: localfirst.org/think-local/slc-economic-study

One of the more interesting things to come from this study was the fact that local retailers return an average of 52 percent of their revenues back into the local economy, while chain retailers only return about 14 percent. Restaurants are even more remarkable. If you go out for date night to an indie local restaurant, they’ll recirculate approximately 79 percent back into your local economy, while chains average around 30 percent.

Both beginning: Independents Week and a 365-day journey.

Kate Caufield's 365 day journey starts today.

What journey? Well, I am going to attempt to make as many of my daily purchases, entertainment, food, groceries, etc for my family of four from independent, local businesses in New Albany, IN as I can for 365 days, and anyone that would like to follow along and encourage, comment, jeer, vex, pontificate, advise, admonish, make suggestions, or tease is welcome to share their thoughts.

She's blogging about it at New Albany 365.Not coincidentally, today also marks the start of Independents Week.

Independents Week is a time to recognize your community’s local independent businesses and the values they embody. It’s a celebration of their spirit of entrepreneurism and individuality, and an occasion to recognize their local contributions of time, talent, goods and services.

From AMIBA