Community leaders, local businesses and non-profits in Park Slope are launching a Buy in Brooklyn shop local campaign to help support small businesses and the local economy. The kick-off event, geared towards local merchants, is taking place Tuesday, November 13th at the Community Bookstore on Park Slope’s 7th Avenue from 8:00pm-9:30pm. Here’s the PRESS RELEASE.

   

(Brooklyn, NY)  "We take community stewardship seriously, and want to support local entrepreneurs in the face of increasing displacement of locally owned businesses" says Ken Freeman, President of the Park Slope Civic Council whose Buy in Brooklyn shop local message began the campaign.  “The character of our neighborhood depends on a diverse mix of businesses.”

He is not alone. City-wide concern around the closing and displacement of small businesses has reached a tipping point. Neighbors across all five boroughs look on with increasing alarm as the doors of some of their favorite local businesses close, only to be replaced by the relative anonymity of chain stores and banks.

Launch organizer and Community Bookstore owner Catherine Bohne likens the context to "penguins on the edge of an ice flow."  "People are beginning to voice their concern and jump in," she says, "but here in Park Slope— with the generous support from the Park Slope Civic Council—we’ve been given the means to tap into local concern and pull together a critical mass of partners."

Co-organizer Rebeccah Welch agrees. "This launch has served as a lightening rod for local action," said Welch, adding "the issue resonates deeply in the community and the response has been heartening. There’s a groundswell of energy, a primed coalition of merchants, non-profits and activists who are eager to jump in and try to do something."

Part of the motor behind the shop local campaign is its heart and its neighborliness. "Many of our local merchants are our neighbors and friends—a salient part of the community," argues Melinda Morris, co-organizer and owner of Lion in the Sun.  "Local businesses give back to the neighborhood in myriad of ways, far beyond providing goods and services."

But what also makes this movement unique are its expansive goals—to build a coalition of local business owners, non-profits and concerned residents to continue to support small local business and the character of the community through action, events and education.

National research has shown that local businesses are a major source of jobs, innovation, and insight—and Buy in Brooklyn takes its broader campaign message seriously, working with organizations like the Sustainable Business Alliance, NYC (SBANYC) whose principal mission lies in educating the community about the benefits of local, green and sustainable economies.

"Shopping locally is simply good for the economy and overall health of the neighborhood," concurs Freeman. "Every dollar spent locally circulates 3 times in our local economy – it strengthens the entire economy of the neighborhood."

Organizers expect local politicians, merchants, and non-profits to come together and tackle this issue in the wake of the launch. [Stay tuned for the results.] Organizers have already set a date for shop local day on December 13th, sponsored by Seventh Avenue of Chamber Commerce. "We really want to show how shopping locally is easy and helpful," says Bohne, adding "a healthy community is one of the best insurances for the well being of its individual members."