The Asheville Grown Business Alliance, a loose group of business owners and residents who want to see independent shops thrive, will celebrate its second anniversary next month. Similar movements in places such as Austin, Texas, and Boulder, Colo., the city that first banded together to support independents in 1999, are much more established. But with more than 200 active businesses and 400 posters with a distinctive red heart logo, the Asheville Grown movement is firmly planted in downtown and beginning to branch out.
As the start of the traditional seasonal shopping season approaches this week, the group has teamed up with dozens of similar organizations across the country to push consumers to spend more of their holiday cash with smaller, local retailers and on locally-manufactured products. It has also partnered with the Asheville City Schools Foundation to launch a loyalty card program early next year targeting independents. Business leaders and city officials are discussing a downtown business improvement district and how that might support locally-grown businesses. And Asheville Grown's members are looking ahead as the movement matures.
“The direction I would love to see it go is that more and more people get involved,” said Franzi Charen, who has led Asheville Grown since its inception.
“I'm hoping more business owners realize that it's up to every one of us to shift Asheville in a direction,Cheap Designer DG Men's Long Sleeve Shirts wholesale for sale” that supports independent businesses,Wholesale replica Bally AAA Belt Wholesale On Sale she said.Cheapest Versace A Belt Wholesale On Sale
“I'm not convinced that Asheville will be as fiercely independent as it is now. Asheville has only seen this renaissance of independently owned business the last 15 years. So what's going to happen in the next 15?”
Shifting shopping
The holiday shopping season will officially start the day after Thanksgiving ― Black Friday, as it's known ― and independent business alliances have banded together to get consumers' attention.Cheap D&G AAA Belt Wholesale On Sale Their marketing effort is known as Shift Your Shopping. Charen has participated in regular conference calls with groups from around the U.S. who want consumers to spend at least some of their holiday money with them. The National Retail Federation predicts consumers will spend about $700 on seasonal gifts this year.replica Mens Versace Long sleeve T-shirts Online That's down slightly from 2010, but will total about $465 billion for November and December.
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