Dear Friends and Neighbors,
It's Carolina from North Light Books & Cafe bringing you the news that Starbucks is planning to open a branch in the Rancho Cotati Shopping Center- eek !!

It's not a done deal and if we have the will, we may be able to avert it.
If you don't fancy a Starbucks in Cotati, please join us at the Cotati City Council meeting this Wednesday (May 24) to let the Council know how you feel. They will not act unless we make them sit up and take notice. We will be able to speak during the "citizens comment" period.

FYI, I have pasted the highlights of a couple of well-known and
oft-referenced studies on the economics of chain stores vs. locally-owned stores at the bottom of this message. In a nutshell, chains deplete the local economy. And that, aesthetic and cultural concerns aside, is my main issue with most chains and cookie cutter formula food stores.

They're carpetbaggers, non-native invasive species, who don't care about our libraries or our parks or our potholes, and why should they? they don't live here! And the majority of their earnings go to stuff their corporate coffers so they can endlessly reproduce themselves.

Okay, I'm finished. Please come Wednesday night if this is something that you feel like getting your teeth into.

Carolina Clare
North Light Boooks & Cafe
550 E. Cotati Ave
Cotati C A 94931
707 792-4300



1. THE ANDERSONVILLE STUDY OF RETAIL ECONOMICS OCTOBER 2004


Civic Economics 1
HIGHLIGHTS OF THE ANDERSONVILLE STUDY
www.AndersonvilleStudy.com


In a study comparing the economic impact of ten Andersonville
businesses and their chain competitors, it was found that:
Locally-owned businesses generate a substantial Local
Premium in enhanced economic impact.
• For every $100 in consumer spending with a local firm,
$68 remains in the Chicago economy.
• For every $100 in consumer spending with a chain firm,
$43 remains in the Chicago economy.
• For every square foot occupied by a local firm, local
economic impact is $179.
• For every square foot occupied by a chain firm, local
economic impact is $105.

Consumers surveyed on the streets of Andersonville
strongly prefer the neighborhood over agglomerations of
common chain stores.
• Over 70% prefer to patronize locally-owned businesses.
• Over 80% prefer traditional urban business districts.
• Over 10% of respondents reside outside the City of
Chicago.

The study points to clear policy implications.
• Local merchants generate substantially greater economic
impact than chain firms.
• Replacement of local businesses with chains will reduce
the overall vigor of the local economy.
• Changes in consumer spending habits can generate
substantial local economic impact.
• Great care must be taken to ensure that public policy
decisions do not inadvertently disadvantage locally owned
businesses. Indeed, it may be in the best interests of
communities to institute policies that directly protect them.

To learn more about the Andersonville and to obtain copies of study documents,
please visit www.AndersonvilleStudy.com.

1478 West Catalpa Avenue
Chicago, Illinois 60640
Matt Cunningham, Partner
Civic Economics
1425 West Summerdale, #3A
Chicago, Illinois 60640
773.251.5926
[email protected]
www.CivicEconomics.com

Dan Houston, Partner
Civic Economics
Post Office Box 49061
Austin, Texas 78765
512.853.9044
[email protected]
www.CivicEconomics.com



2. AN ANALYSIS OF THE POTENTIAL ECONOMIC IMPACT OF AUSTIN UNCHAINED
NOVEMBER 15, 2003



Civic Economics 1
Civic Economics is pleased to present the Austin Independent Business Alliance with this analysis of the potential economic impact of the Austin Unchained event slated for
November 15, 2003.

BACKGROUND

In November of 2002, Civic Economics, the Austin Independent Business Alliance, Liveable City, BookPeople, and Waterloo Records collaborated on an innovative and influential study of the economic effect of competition between independent and chain merchants. That study, often called “the Liveable City Study,” was conducted under near laboratory conditions, reviewing comparable lines of goods at comparable prices at a single location.

The methodology was deceptively simple. Civic Economics reviewed the revenue and expenditure structures at BookPeople and Waterloo to determine what portion of each merchant’s revenue was spent locally. Then, we applied industry standard multipliers, procured from the Minnesota Implan Group, to determine the total economic impact of
each store. For the chain store comparison, Civic Economics relied on a wide variety of published sources to estimate the revenue and expenditure structure of a typical Borders store. The local impacts were then reported relative to revenues.

The Liveable City study, available online at www.Liveablecity.org, included the following primary finding:

For every $100 in consumer spending at Borders, the total local economic impact is only $13. The same amount spent with BookPeople of Waterloo yields more than three times the local economic impact.

The study has received immense public attention and scrutiny, and we are proud to report that the findings have held up well.
The study has been reported in media outlets from coast to coast and abroad, and has been cited in policy debates in countless communities.

A recent study in Maine, covering several lines of goods and services, validated our findings. There, local merchants were found to return to the local economy $45 of every $100 in consumer spending, compared to $14 for chain stores. Given the difference in markets and goods, we believe these findings are remarkably consistent. (See www.NewRules.org for a copy of this study).


FOR MORE INFORMATION

Steve Bercu, President of the AIBA and
CEO of BookPeople
BookPeople
603 North Lamar
Austin, Texas 78703
512.472.5050
www.BookPeople.com