by: Cassandra Stanton

As a small-business owner I think about Black Friday a lot. It is the day that most retailers hope to get out of the red and into the black for the year. It has been interesting to look at the coverage of the annual event. The Star-News reported from Stein Mart that all seven registers were “open and running steady.” The report form the Cotton Exchange, however, mentioned that the Celtic Shop still had five people looking at merchandise by 5pm. Interesting contrast, no?

The bookstore, without question, had its best day of the year, and like many merchants, we were up over last year. I am so grateful, I don’t have words for it. Daddy called around 4pm, and I was thrilled to tell him we had about 15 people in the store at once (which is unheard of). But compare our best day of the year at $502.73 (that’s gross-sales tax still included), to any major chain store’s receipts by 11am.

One of the reoccurring questions that the inaugural column of the Live Local, Live Small Campaign generated was, “Have you heard of The 3/50 Project?” (www.the350project.net). The answer: “Yes, we have had their window cling up for about a year on the front of the bookstore.” Actually the lovely ladies at Glynne’s Soaps (www.glynnesoaps.com) first sent me an e-mail about the 3/50 Project—”saving the brick and mortars our nation is built on,” as the slogan goes. The fact that 3/50 educates people about the value of their spending habits makes it first and foremost appealing. From the Web site, it states, “If half the employed population [in America] spent $50 locally each month in independently owned businesses, it would generate more than $42.6 billion in revenue”—in other words, $42.6 billion spent in the U.S., not sent to China. They also make the point that when consumers spend money over the Internet, none of it is re-invested in their respective communities.

Now, think about all the money spent on Black Friday in Wilmington. If it was spent at a chain, about 60 percent is going up the corporate ladder and leaving Wilmington, while a substantial portion of that flees the country altogether. But if it was spent at a small, locally owned business, 70 percent would stay here. That is a huge difference.

Just as an example, let us look at how the $502.73 gross will be spent: Sales tax will take up $38.96, leaving $463.77. Fine, we are happy to pay sales tax, no problem (a later column will be dedicated to the break down of sales-tax collection and distribution). Every small-business owner can calculate how each dollar taken in is spent. That figure will be spent with the following break down: Half will go to our rent, a third to to utilities, and the remainder gets divided up between debt service, advertising, the small living I try to eek out from the store and miscellaneous expenses (like the clear plastic packaging tape I referred to last week). Now, savvy readers would probably notice that inventory is not included in that break down, because right now we have more inventory that we can sell and consequently are not buying any for some time. But when these figures change, the distribution of the percentage will have to change to meet the needs.

Our rent is paid to a real person in Charlotte, and our utilities are paid to the CFPUA and Progress Energy. We buy advertising from local publications, organizations and even in theatre production books. However, our debt service goes to a big faceless bank with a Delaware address. In the end, though, $425 of that $463.77 will be spent in some form or another in our state.

Local love goes out this week to Emily Como, who got all her holiday shopping done at local downtown shops, Sawgrass and Planet. Thank you, Emily, for giving the gift of community re-investment.