Mitchell Kaplan, founder of Books & Books in Miami (Coral Gables and Miami Beach, to be specific) is celebrating his store's 25th anniversary. Tonight, I had an opportunity to interview Mitchell and Stacy Mitchell, author of The Hometown Advantage, with a live audience at Mitchell's fabulous store.

The discussion was taped for a forthcoming Smart City program. But among the key points Mitchell and Stacy made were these:

+ What defines great independent retailers is passion -- a passion for what they are selling.

+ Far more money circulates in a local economy from a locally-owned business vs. a business owned elsewhere due to the more likely purchase of local goods and services.

+ Independent retailers are joining together in co-ops and other collaborative arrangements to gain efficiencies in marketing and negotiating more effectively with suppliers.

+ Public policies can encourage locally-owned business but they are not the policies we typically turn to, such as small business loans. Rethinking land use and zoning, rethinking incentives for large developments, valuing small business for their economic value and the distinctiveness they add to the community, and creating commercial land trusts to preserve moderate rents were some of the policies Mitchell and Stacy recommended. An audience member added changes in purchasing policies by local institutions (in addition to government).

+ Small retailers must use what they have to compete with bigger stores. Mitchell has built his marketing around an events strategy and partnering with organizations (like Macy's) that are much bigger and have more promotional resources.

+ Distinctive retail shops and restaurants, particularly those that function as community gathering places, are now important amenities for cities. Cities need to learn to value these amenities (all stores are not created equal) and act accordingly.

+ Just as large-format bookstores drove many small booksellers out of business (American Booksellers Association membership has declined from 7000-8000 members in 1982 to 1500 now.), are large-format bookstores now in danger of becoming the "middle" between Amazon with "unlimited "selection and independents with their emphasis on curatorial taste making, personal service and placemaking? The middle of any industry is always endangered. Is this a game-changer?

Learn more in two weeks on Smart City.

Joe Provenzano, October 27, 2007

Restaurants are city anchors and crucial to development. The Museum Campus development in the South Loop brilliant as it is, languished early on because of the dearth of restaurants and retail. The entire west Loop development occurred because developers followed restaurateurs into the area. Cities do indeed need to learn the value of these amenities.

Link: http://canihavethatwith.blogspot.com/

Steve Dahlberg, October 29, 2007

On a related note, check out the story on this topic in the current issue of Ode magazine, "How a Bookstore Can Change Your Life": http://www.odemagazine.com/doc/48/how-a-bookstore-can-change-your-life Plus, check out the issue itself for a large section on "What the World Reads Now," profiling bookstores and top-10 book lists from around the around. Steve Dahlberg International Centre for Creativity and Imagination http://www.appliedimagination.org

Link: http://www.appliedimagination.org

Steve Dahlberg, October 29, 2007

On a related note, check out the story on this topic in the current issue of Ode magazine, "How a Bookstore Can Change Your Life": http://www.odemagazine.com/doc/48/how-a-bookstore-can-change-your-life Plus, check out the issue itself for a large section on "What the World Reads Now," profiling bookstores and top-10 book lists from around the around. Steve Dahlberg International Centre for Creativity and Imagination http://www.appliedimagination.org

Link: http://appliedimagination.org

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