As a member of the local business community, we have been chatting with our neighbours here on Victoria’s Fabulous Fort Street, looking for ways to encourage our local community to continue honouring us with their business.  Times are tough for many local small family businesses due to increased competition from big business in the suburbs, big business on the internet, as well as increased taxation and a faltering economy.  Times are tough!

And yet small business is the main driver of our economy. For every $100 spent in a locally owned independent store (The Good Planet Company, for example!) $68 returns to the community through taxes, payroll and other expenditures.  If you spend that in a national chain, only $43 stays here.  Half of this country’s private sector labour force works for, and is dependent upon, small business.

So we put our heads together and came up with a low key campaign along our block of Fort Street, entitled “We Are The People In Your Neighbourhood”.  Thank you, Jim Henson and Sesame Street for loaning us your song, we hope there are no copyright infringement lawsuits pending.

What we’re saying is that your local downtown merchants rely on the community for support, and the favour is returned with a wide variety of  products and services, friendly service and conversation, taxes galore, charitable donations, wages and benefits, so many of the factors required for a functional, inviting and safe community.

As the world economy continues to spiral towards what could be major upheaval in the coming years, we hope that people will continue to embrace local, independent business as the lifeblood of their community.  The global economy, at least in it’s current form, may sputter and one day fall apart, but your local merchants are working hard to support the community, and, we hope, earn your support in return!

We are the people in your neighbourhood

It sounds like a farm, but the Green Collective is a group of retailers in Victoria who sell “sustainable products with green values.”

That’s the claim they make together in their new brochure, pale green of course, that lists a dozen stores and a map of how to find them.

The marketing effort began five years ago as a group advertising buy to multiply the power of the print ads they could buy…

Read the full article at douglasmagazine.com.