By Melonie Magruder
Lookout Staff

February 17, 2012 -- Three years into the City’s Buy Local campaign designed to boost the visibility of local merchants and keep Santa Monica dollars in Santa Monica, participating vendors are beginning to see the benefits of togetherness.

According to a survey commissioned by the City and Downtown Santa Monica, Inc. (DTSM) and conducted by three different research data firms, the program is growing in size, scope and effect.

Photos courtesy DTSM

Buy Local has engaged more than 400 Santa Monica-based businesses – including restaurants, retailers, cafes, salons and bookstores – as partners. Of those, 104 recently completed surveys about why they participate in the program and what results they have seen. The feedback has permitted local officials to develop new initiatives to expand the campaign.

“In the coming months we will be implementing a series of new program elements that will help to further raise awareness of Buy Local businesses and the importance of shopping locally,” said Debbie Lee, Vice President of DTSM.

The new initiatives are geared to heighten visibility in the community, the top reason 83 percent of the businesses surveyed cited for their participation in the campaign, said Jennifer Taylor, the City's Economic Development Administrator.

The City is officially declaring the March 17 weekend as the Buy Local Weekend with a big expo on the Third Street Promenade, Taylor said.

“Merchants can set up booths, there will be sidewalk sales and a special Scavenger Hunt that is designed to take Santa Monica residents to new shopping areas they might not have been aware of," Taylor said.

“It’s not just the idea of the economic benefits of a Buy Local campaign,” she added. “We really want to encourage Santa Monicans to explore their city.”

The fact that the Los Angeles Marathon will be bringing some 50,000 visitors that day to Santa Monica (the finish line is at the Pier) will only enhance the opportunity for local vendors to shine, officials said.

At last year’s expo, one of the effective scheduled events was a raffle offered to shoppers “caught with their (local) receipt showing.” Survey participants cited it as one of the valuable highlights of the expo.

Although it is difficult to quantify the financial benefits of the program – participation is free to vendors – the City and DTSM are relying on qualitative feedback from participants in designing the next step in the Buy Local campaign, Taylor said.

It is estimated that $68 of every $100 spent in Santa Monica benefits the community, and participating merchants are keenly aware of the heightened advantages in pushing the Buy Local vibe.

Christina Norton, proprietor of Agabhumi: The Best of Bali, said she signed onto the program shortly after the shop first opened its doors.

“I think what’s best about Buy Local is the public awareness of us as a presence we’ve gained,” Norton said. “In the end, what sustains any small business will be the people in your own backyard.

"Besides, it’s free to work with the City that way," she said. "What’s not to like?”

Norton said she also appreciates the opportunity to educate shoppers, as well as future customers, as she did in a recent meet-up with SAMOHI students who were themselves working on a Buy Local project for class.

“One of them asked me how it could be Buy Local when my merchandise comes from Bali,” she said. “I was able to tell them that the goods might come from Bali, but my rent is paid to a Santa Monica landlord, my taxes go to the city, I buy my lunch at the café across the street, and I pay my employees who live here.

"During Christmas, we had customers come in and tell me they were only buying local this season," Norton said. "The campaign is working.”

Taylor said other new Buy Local initiatives include creating a strong networking event calendar for participants, installing pole banners throughout the City and targeting new local audiences through a popular City TV spot, “Tour de Feast.”

The initiatives also will include strengthening existing customer loyalty through a partnership with local students, encouraging them to blog about buying local.

And of course, there’s the upcoming Scavenger Hunt during the Buy Local expo, the details of which have not yet been released. Taylor promises it will be more than just a marketing ploy.

“Fun is the operative term here,” she said.

For more information on the Buy Local campaign, go to www.buylocalsantamonica.com.