Louisville Independent Business Alliance

I was going to direct this to Todd Antz from Keg Liquors, but thought maybe some of you Forumites might be interested as well.

LIBA (Buy Local First) and keep Louisville weird!

LIBA had a meeting last night to discuss where they are and where they are going. You may recall the "event" at Rainbow Blossom, The Big Box Swindle?
LIBA is up to 45 members and we believe we are ready to move forward with marketing. The true motive behind LIBA is to get the consumer to think local. Where are your dollars being spent? How much of YOUR money is kept in the community? Well the answer is simple, if you buy from a chain it is $13 and if you buy from an independent it is $45. It is that simple. We need to get people to think. Why is Louisville weird? Because we believe in independent restaurants and businesses. The has been a question of who is included - Louisville metro including Southern Indiana, Jtown, Oldham County, etc. If you believe your business can benefit locally it is worth your time. If anyone would like to know more please send me a PM and/or check out the website
http://www.keeplouisvilleweird.com/index.htm

[Robin Garr]

http://www.keeplouisvilleweird.com/index.htm

Hmm ... LouisvilleHotBytes WAS a member - that's why we have the logo on the site front page. It looks like we fell off, though ... wonder how that happened.

If you were a member, you still are. see my PM

I work close with the Marketing and Membership Director of LIBA. If you are a member I'll get your site linked on the Shop Louisville Locals page ASAP.

This is great Kurt! I'm all for buying local. I'll put forth a question to you however.... How many LIBA members return the favor by buying locally owned/operated advertising?

[Robin Garr]

I work close with the Marketing and Membership Director of LIBA. If you are a member I'll get your site linked on the Shop Louisville Locals page ASAP.

Well, LouisvilleHotBytes.com was definitely an early member of Keep Louisville Weird, I was at several meetings, and our logo used to be on the KLW partners page. This was all done through Leslie Stewart.

I don't know if we missed an announcement about the shift to LIBA, but certainly as a locally owned and operated media company with wide local readership we would seem to qualify; and we've consistently provided publicity - and an active cross link from our front page, the electronic equivalent of a retail store window, since the beginning. It's still there, on the left-hand side of the front page at http://www.LouisvilleHotBytes.com .

This is great Kurt! I'm all for buying local. I'll put forth a question to you however.... How many LIBA members return the favor by buying locally owned/operated advertising?

That is the point. Yes some of us did have some national vendors and we are looking at coming back local. I just negotiated a new garbage contract with a local and got notice on Friday they sold to Waste Management. Our goal is to continue to buy local as oftem=n as possible.
I can't speak for everyone, but our marketing is handled locally.

[Robin Garr]

I can't speak for everyone, but our marketing is handled locally.

Excellent, although I suspect what Lois is getting at here is that Louisville Originals really ought to be selectively advertising in LEO, Food & Dining, Louisville Magazine, LouisvilleHotBytes as opposed to sending their ad money out of state to Gannett's coffers in Virginia. Particularly since local advertising is more effective ...

I can't speak for everyone, but our marketing is handled locally.

Excellent, although I suspect what Lois is getting at here is that Louisville Originals really ought to be selectively advertising in LEO, Food & Dining, Louisville Magazine, LouisvilleHotBytes as opposed to sending their ad money out of state to Gannett's coffers in Virginia. Particularly since local advertising is more effective ...

The last I heard, LEO was no longer locally owned. Hasn't been for a while now. WOW, I didn't realize it had been so long ago.

http://louisville.bizjournals.com/louis ... ily20.html

You're right Doogy it is no longer locally owned but everyone that draws a salary from it is local. Also all of the programs, festivals and non profits that we sponsor and any recipients of free advertising - which, granted, are few and far between because we are feeling the pinch like everyone else - are local.

Hey Robin.... who's Lois?

You're right Doogy it is no longer locally owned but everyone that draws a salary from it is local. Also all of the programs, festivals and non profits that we sponsor and any recipients of free advertising - which, granted, are few and far between because we are feeling the pinch like everyone else - are local.

I am not trying to pick a fight, but the same thing is said over and over about chains. They hire local people, sponsor local events, advertise in the local media, pay local taxes, but get bashed again and again by local people. So, face it, like LEO or not, it isn't local. Also, are any/all of those benefits of a chain all that bad?

[Robin Garr]

Also, are any/all of those benefits of a chain all that bad?

In this instance i was talking about Gannett Corp., an anti-union, corner-cutting operation that has taken the Louisville metro newspaper out of the top 10 in the US and even out of the top 100 in the US. They increased the annual return on investment from the 2 percent that the Binghams claimed to a stunning 27 percent, and that money, sir, goes to the stockholders who, by and large, are not local people.

No, not all chains are bad. If you paid one iota of attention in this forum you would understand that no one ever said that. But in newspapers and in restaurants and in most other corporate fields of endeavor, larger chains certainly TEND toward a quarterly balance sheet view that puts the interests of the stockholders ahead of all else, including the workers and the consumers. That's a problem, and it strongly tends to separate chains from local companies, particularly in the restaurant business.

But you'll have to show me where anyone in this forum ever said (except possibly in exasperated jest) that all chains are always bad. You can look at my own restaurant reviews - as recently as my positive review of Buca di Beppo, which had a lot of people here jumping on me - to see that I never said that.

Also, are any/all of those benefits of a chain all that bad?

No, not all chains are bad. If you paid one iota of attention in this forum you would understand that no one ever said that.

I do pay more than an iota of attention. In addition, I didn't say that anyone on this forum indicated that all chains are bad. Please, quit picking on me and belittling me.

You have a very good point Doogy regarding the 'chain' argument that seems to ring through here on occasions. And it's well taken

Here's my beef regarding advertising and locals...

Countless times, in fact almost a dozen times a day, we get calls at the LEO asking for free advertising for special events or festivals or new businesses that are just trying to get started. We try VERY hard to work with as many as we can, in every way we can, to get the word out for them and assist in their growth. Then, after a successful year or two when the events, festivals or whatever new business does take off they turn around and spend their budget with other publications that turned them down (for free or discounted advertising) in the first place. Not so much as a thank you from many. It's very frustrating for any rep to put in long hours helping an event or new business get off the ground with little to nothing to show for it (because most of us work on commission) thinking that down the road it'll pay off with some loyalty that simply, well... evaporates. A little like waiting on a bunch of tables all night long and getting stiffed in the end.

[Robin Garr]

Please, quit picking on me and belittling me.

Little paranoia problem there, Doog?