Scott Swanson
The opening of Bi-Mart last week was a historical event for Sweet Home.
After what, four decades? without a true department store in town – the last one was located where The New Era is now – we’ve got a store now that sells 45,000 products, according to our story on page 8 of this week’s newspaper.
I don’t think I’m being excessively rose-colored in my view that Bi-Mart’s presence is a big plus for our town, not just for residents but even for other merchants.
The Sweet Home Active Revitalization Effort, better known as SHARE, in 2009 conducted a study in Sweet Home to determine what residents considered the biggest needs for local consumers. Results of that Downtown Retail Market Analysis, prepared by Marketek, a Portland-based research firm, determined that the products Sweet Home shoppers wanted to buy in town more than anything else were clothing and shoes.
It found that Sweet Home placed fourth, behind Lebanon, Albany and Eugene, as the top shopping destination because of what respondents who didn’t want to shop locally blamed on poor selection, high prices, limited hours and the poor appearance of the downtown. Restaurants were of “great interest,” with 58 percent of respondents saying their top needs included steakhouse/grill and a bakery in Sweet Home. Many also said they wanted more family dining and a sit-down coffee house.
On the positive side, shoppers said they were motivated to buy in Sweet Home by convenience and the desire to support local businesses.
The results of the Marketek study were announced in early 2010 – almost exactly four years ago. A lot has changed since then.
Our downtown has a host of buildings with fresh paint and other exterior improvements, thanks largely to grants by SHARE’s Commercial Exterior Improvement Program, which is still in operation. The Sweet Home Beautification Committee continues to make the Main Street median a local source of pride for the community. There are new eateries operated by people who understand what it takes to succeed. Local stores have beefed up their product lines.
And now we have Bi-Mart to fill in the blanks.
When we consider all of this, it’s interesting how many of those boxes indicated by the Marketek study have been checked off. We look better. There are more options for eating out. And although we probably would still need to go out of town to buy formal wear or specialized gear (other than for the outdoors), a lot of the basics that we used to drive 15 miles or more to purchase are suddenly available locally. We’re making progress.
I’ve had a number of discussions with local folks about how Bi-Mart will impact existing local businesses. The answer, I believe, is dependent on those businesses.
Bi-Mart specializes in products of a certain genre and price range, not unlike what we can buy at Wal-Mart.
Meanwhile, other businesses carry items that Bi-Mart doesn’t and probably never will: higher-end lines of tools, groceries, pet and livestock supplies, garden supplies, lumber, bulk foods, sewing supplies, and much more. They do this because there’s local demand for these things.
These businesses also provide something that big box stores can’t: long-standing relationship. Though a smaller store might have to charge a little more, the payoff is service for the customer. Other than the pharmacy, sporting goods and electronics counters, and the check-out stands, stores such as Home Depot, Costco and Wal-Mart aren’t crawling with customer service representatives. And a lot of times, when you do locate one, it’s pretty obvious (as they scan the label) that they don’t know much more about the product you’re asking about than you do.
That’s not true at many businesses where the owner is on the premises. Go to the local hardware store, or the flower shop, outdoors store or the sewing notions store and you’re talking to people who have been doing this for years and have a passion for what they do. They also have a relationship with you in the sense that they really want you to return. So does Bi-Mart, certainly, but the dynamics really aren’t the same.
Relationships are important in a community, even though we too often take them for granted and don’t make enough effort to cultivate them.
In her book “The Death and Life of Great American Cities,” a critique of 1950s urban planning policy, activist Jane Jacobs pointed this out well. Community, she says, “grows out of people stopping by the bar for a beer, getting advice from the grocer and giving advice to the newsstand man, comparing opinions with other customers at the bakery and nodding hello to the two boys drinking pop on the stoop . . . hearing about a job from the hardware man and borrowing a dollar from the druggist . . .
“Most of it is ostensibly utterly trivial, but the sum is not trivial at all. The sum of such casual, public contact at the local level. . . most of it fortuitous, most of it associated with errands . . . is a feeling for the public identity of people, a web of public respect and trust, and a resource in time of personal or neighborhood need. The absence of this trust is a disaster to a city street.”
When we shop at a store where the owner is standing behind the counter, that’s what happens. Those of us who have lived in large communities where anonymity reigns, appreciate this in particular. It’s breath of fresh air when someone cares enough to give you expert advice because they appreciate the fact that you’re standing in their business or you called their number, when it’s not just about money.
Bi-Mart executives made some good points at the grand opening last Thursday. One noted that local restaurant owners are delighted to have Bi-Mart in town.
There’s a reason why restaurants are found around shopping malls and shopping centers. People like to eat out when they shop, so it’s easy to see why having more shopping in town might be one more reason why folks would decide to eat in town.
Another pointed out that having Bi-Mart in Sweet Home will give people more incentive to shop locally.
That is very valid, I think. Wal-Mart will still be an attraction, with its acres of products and one-stop shopping, but Bi-Mart offers many of those same products and it’s right here.
Consider that when you drive to Lebanon, you’ve already spent $5 right off the top in fuel just to make the trip, not to mention wear and tear on your car and half an hour spent on the road. So you’ve spent time and money to go somewhere where the chances of your dollars benefiting your own community is drastically reduced.
With the arrival of Bi-Mart, dollars will have a greater chance to stay in Sweet Home – or at least in Oregon.
Buy something at Wal-Mart and you can watch a large percentage of your money leave town on the truck, headed for Arkansas. Buy it here in town and it’s going to one of those employees who grew up in our local schools and lives here, or someone who at least eats lunch here.
Studies conducted by people smarter than I am back this up. One, in 2008, found that for every $100 spent at a locally-owned business, $68 stays in the local economy, compared to only $43 if spent at a national chain. Another reported that local firms procure local goods and services at more than twice the rate of chains. That same study, done in 2004, also found that locally-owned firms contribute more to local charities and fund-raisers than do their national counterparts.
There’s plenty more, but you get the idea.
It’s true even in Sweet Home, where our economy hasn’t been the strongest over the past couple of decades.
Not only does shopping here keep money in town, it will keep money in our pockets. Sure, we can sometimes get a distinctly better deal by shopping elsewhere, but it comes with that automatic “tax” of fuel costs. Bi-Mart will make it easier to stay in Sweet Home. It may help Sweet Home money stay in Sweet Home. It may save us a half-hour drive to pick up basic necessities that we couldn’t get here before.
I’m hoping local folks will continue to support locally owned businesses that offer service, expertise and relationship in addition to product.
Bi-Mart brings great convenience and necessities, but those elements are important too.