The news that two downtown merchants are closing up shop or downsizing leaves a bitter taste. IN ALLEN COUNTY, more than $1.6 million was taken in through sales tax receipts in 2012 from local purchases. Iola contributed the bulk of the receipts, $1.15 million. MOST SEE shopping as a personal affair. And there’s no call for martydom. If you can’t find what you want locally, there’s no reason to feel guilty to shop elsewhere.
Classy Attic is closing. Party Girls will retain its catering business, but close its boutique up front.
The two stores are almost neighbors on the south side of the square — supposedly the best location in town because of guaranteed exposure to the steady flow of U.S. 54 traffic.
Neither business was a fly-by-night venture. Both were operated by longtime Iolans dedicated to providing area shoppers with both practical and fanciful items.
Any downtown merchant will tell you it’s an uphill battle to keep customers coming through their doors.
Shoppers are a fickle lot. Carving out a unique niche is only half the battle.
In a town with scant pedestrian traffic, downtown merchants must do more than have attractive window displays. Widespread and constant marketing over a variety of platforms is necessary to reach today’s demographic. Today’s shopper expects to be routinely bombarded with emails, Facebook posts, and newspaper and radio advertisements telling them of the day’s bargain.
As customers, we, too, have a responsibility to keeping our local merchants in business.
Sherry Hart of Classy Attic has often said that every click of the computer mouse for an online purchase puts a nail in the coffin of her business.
The numbers tell the story best.
Of every $100 spent at a locally owned business like Classy Attic, about $68 is returned to the community, including sales tax receipts that support city and county services.
If that same $100 were spent at a national chain store, about $20 is returned to the local community, according to the Small Business Saturday Campaign that kicked off the holiday shopping season.
And of course, if that $100 were spent out of town, it’s a total loss to the community.
So every purchase we make in lumber, clothing, paint and trucks not only helps that merchant directly, but also helps to balance city and county budgets.
As shop owner Hart said, a big competitor for area merchants, besides Walmart, is online shopping, in part because sales are not taxed on out-of-state purchases.
Congress can help downtown merchants by passing the Marketplace Fairness Act which will enforce sales taxes on all online purchases. The Senate has passed the bill. It awaits action in the House.
Passage would level the playing field between brick-and-mortar businesses and those on the Internet.
Merchants simply are asking that you give their stores a look-see first.
Chances are, you’ll be pleasantly surprised by what you find.
— Susan Lynn
If local shops win, we all win this holiday season
