Plaid, chartreuse or aquamarine Friday, just not black, because economic oppression isn't entitled to its own language.

“Language is power, life and the instrument of culture, the instrument of domination and liberation”
-- Angela Carter, novelist

Plaid Friday still exists.

The name Plaid Friday was conceived from the idea of weaving the individual threads of small businesses together to create a strong fabric that celebrates the diversity and creativity of independent businesses. Plaid Friday is the relaxing and enjoyable alternative to the big box store “Black Friday,” and is designed to promote both local and independently owned businesses during the holidays.

Plaid Friday was conceptualized in Oakland, CA, a city known for strong shop local campaigns. Plaid Friday strives to bring back the days when shopping for friends and family during the holidays was a pleasurable and leisurely activity.

There are many more small independent businesses in New Albany than in 2012, when I wrote the words that follow, way down below on this page.

At the time, some of us were laboring mightily to create an independent business alliance based on principle set forth by organizations like the American Independent Business Alliance (AMIBA), the Business Alliance for Local Living Economies, and the best local example right across the river: Louisville Independent Business Alliance.

Why? LIBA's mission statement explains.

The mission of the Louisville Independent Business Alliance (LIBA) is to preserve the unique community character of the Metro Louisville area by promoting locally-owned, independent businesses and to educate citizens on the value of purchasing locally. In order to pursue LIBA's mission, the organization will focus on:

• Informing citizens of the value provided by locally owned businesses, including their importance to the local economy, culture, and social fabric. The goal is to encourage area residents to view themselves as citizens -- as members of a community rather than merely as consumers.
• Offering group branding, promotion and advertising to LIBA members to elevate the individual and collective profiles of locally owned businesses in order to provide marketing and exposure advantages chains routinely enjoy.
• Creating strong relationships with local government and media in order to inform local decision-making and give voice to the locally owned independent business community, and to promote policies that support community-rooted enterprises.

Can locally-owned, independent, small and family-owned businesses compete and remain viable in an economy increasingly rigged to favor corporate players?

It's a good question, and there are a thousand potential answers, but there is a necessary condition to be fulfilled.

THESE BUSINESSES MUST BE UNIFIED AND THEY MUST ACT IN CONCERT.

We've never achieved this in New Albany. We've never come close. Independent operators seem to believe that someone else will represent their interests; perhaps local government, or Develop New Albany; maybe the Horseshoe Foundation, or the man in the moon.

Independent local businesses have invested hugely in the city. The scale of their investment dwarfs that of any of the preceding entities, but indies simply do not have clout commensurate with the sheer volume of their investments.

No one else is going to do it for indies. Indies have to do it themselves. Being informed is an absolute prerequisite. Here is what I wrote in 2012.

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It's all about educating consumers, but this year more than ever before, it occurred to me that independent small business owners themselves also are prime beneficiaries of an ongoing educational component of any Buy Local campaign.

We can begin by rejecting alien terminology. Words actually matter. If you are a small indie business owner, or if you support the panoply of indie business concepts, you must recognize that "Black Friday" is adverse terminology. It is degrading materialist Big Box Speak, intended to inculcate a sense of mega-chain empowerment. Consider refraining from its usage next year, and train your employees to think and speak in like fashion.

Eventually, we'll retrain the nation, but we have to start somewhere: With ourselves. Language is a good start for revolution, don't you think?

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.

Infographic: "Shopping Local for the Holidays."

A big holiday shopping weekend is coming up, and in this household, we avoid the term "Black Friday" to describe it. That's because language matters, and if one is involved in any fashion with independent local business (I partly own two), "Black Friday" is a term denoting big box, chain-based hegemony. Why would I use language designed to oppress me and denigrate what I do? My personal preference is Plaid Friday. In terms of color, there's a whole rainbow to choose from. I won't give chains the pleasure.

Thanks to Destinations Booksellers for the infographic -- go here for a full-sized version.

Drinking Progressively: Let's make it Tuesday evenings, beginning on November 25.

NABC supports Plaid Friday, and here's why.

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 29) is the biggest sales day of the year for big boxes and multinational chain stores -- the ones where the money promptly 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 and LIBA can help locate indies. Local independent business thank you for your support.

Reposted from the NABC web site. I'm doing DNA's job for them v.v. two-way streets; might as well serve as the mouthpiece of the IBA while I'm at it. Just joking. I think.

Oppressors are not entitled to their own language.

“Language is power, life and the instrument of culture, the instrument of domination and liberation”
-- Angela Carter, novelist

Plaid Friday went swimmingly, don't you think?

It's all about educating consumers, but this year more than ever before, it occurred to me that independent small business owners themselves also are prime beneficiaries of an ongoing educational component of any Buy Local campaign.

We can begin by rejecting alien terminology. Words actually matter. If you are a small indie business owner, or if you support the panoply of indie business concepts, you must recognize that "Black Friday" is adverse terminology. It is degrading materialist Big Box Speak, intended to inculcate a sense of mega-chain empowerment. Consider refraining from its usage next year, and train your employees to think and speak in like fashion.

Eventually, we'll retrain the nation, but we have to start somewhere: With ourselves. Language is a good start for revolution, don't you think?

"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.

The week to come.

It is the week of Thanksgiving (where did the year go?), and a burgeoning slate of activities. Following are NABC's choices. Remember that both NABC locations will be closed on Thanksgiving Day.

Naughty Claus is coming to New Albany on Thanksgiving week.

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

Saturnalia Winter Solstice MMXII at the Pizzeria & Public House begins on Friday, November 23.

Holly Jolly Beer Trolley after Jingle Walk, and a Naughty Claus correction.

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.

Plaid -- indeed.

New Albany Entertainment! is doing its bit for localism, and cheers to Caroline for doing so. I'm not sufficiently trained to format the mailing I received, but if you visit the main page and scroll down, there are local listings. To learn more about the "specials" that Caroline has collected, I'm guessing you can write to her and she'll forward the mailing: caroline(at)newalbanyentertainment(dot)com.

Planned activities for Holiday Fest on Saturday, November 26.

As I've had a couple of requests asking what local activities would be occurring in New Albany during the weekend after Thanksgiving, I thought it useful to print the following. Although Stefanie intended it as a memo to merchants, it's a more comprehensive preview of "Holiday Fest" components than what currently is posted on DNA's site. None of this takes into account Plaid Friday, the direct indie response to the egregious excesses of Black Friday, and which is not part of the DNA/city event card.

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Hello Fellow Merchants!

Holiday Fest will be here in four short weeks! We hope each of you will be involved in the festivites of the day. Please take a few minutes to read through this email, and respond to me how you would like to participate in Holiday Fest 2011 - Thank you in advance!

What is Holiday Fest?
It is a community event sponsored by Develop New Albany and the City of New Albany designed to bring residents, friends, and guests to our home town to discover all our shops, restaurants and businesses by moving people through our downtown and uptown areas of New Albany. As darkness settles in everyone is invited to gather at the City Christmas Tree near State and Market streets to "Light Up" the tree, medians and surrounding buildings. There are many different activities offered throughout the day that we hope all ages will find appealing. The key activities are:

The Jingle Walk Wine, Shops and Hops is our fund raising activity which helps generate the money to help cover the costs of Holiday Fest along with the budgeted amount from our Develop New Albany members and the City's. We pair shops with wineries to promote tasting, shopping, and buying, all bringing traffic in to our local shops. This event is geared towards 21 year and older participants.

The Scavenger hunt is a free activity to promote traffic into local shops geared to any age.

The YMCA hosts Santa Clause, a free toy give a way, activities for kids and a secret shopping area for children to buy gifts by themselves for their families. This activity is geared towards our 12 and under guests.

The "light up" is located at MainSource bank parking lot on the corner of State and Market Streets. The City tree along with the outline of downtown buildings will be "turned on" that evening. This is where all activities gather at the end of the day for toys, prize winners and fun!

After light up, everyone is encouraged to check out the shops and restaurants that they missed during the day.

Now that you know a little more about Holiday Fest, what we would like from your business is:

Decorate your business! Matt Denison, Micky Thompson, Dave Barksdale and the Fire Department (when available) will be outlining the tops of buildings with holiday lights and will be happy to coordinate hanging extra lights at your business if you would like. Please contact Matt at mdenison@cityofnewalbany.com to schedule a time.

Volunteer to help test lights (week of November 1st), hang lights or help out the day of the event!

Donate a prize for the Jingle Walk or Scavenger Hunt! Each donor will be listed in the Tribune insert for Holiday Fest for donated prizes, if you let us know what you are giving by November 5th - thank you!

Jingle Walk shops have been coordinated, however we need more locations for the Scavenger Hunt. Each business is asked to provide a small item to give away to each person. The item should relate to your business (ex: Strandz Salon is giving away bobby pins), we ask that your business is open from 2-5:00 pm. If you are not a Develop New Albany member, there will be a small charge to participate but you can apply that towards your membership if you would like! (If it was not for our Develop New Albany members we would not be able to budget the money to buy lights and put on this event - thank you members!)

SAVE the date - Saturday November 26th 2-6:30 pm

Please contact Stefanie Griffith with any questions 502.645.6256

Thanks again for your help and have a Happy Halloween!

Troika of news items from my PC blog.

Following are three postings at my Potable Curmudgeon blog that may be of interest to NAC's wider audience.

First, you can clip and save NABC's holiday opening/closing schedule for 2011.

One event we're hoping to expand upon during this and coming years is Plaid Friday: Black is out, plaid is in. Will "the shift" be in?

Meanwhile, I propose three cheers for Starlight Distribution, which is bringing the Shelton Brothers portfolio back to Indiana.