In a recent post on how remarkable ideas need a name, Seth Godin mentions the 3/50 project as an example of such an idea. The concept is extremely simple:
- 3: What three independently owned businesses would you miss if they disappeared? Stop in. Say hello. Pick up something that brings a smile. Your purchases are what keeps those businesses around.
- 50: If half of the employed population spent $50 each month in locally owned independent businesses, it would generate more than $42.6 billion in revenue [In the US].
- 68: For every $100 spent in locally owned independent stores, $68 returns to the community […] If you spend that in a national chain, only $43 stays here.
Kitsilano is full of locally owned, independent businesses. Like Drexoll Games, Zulu Records, Duthie Books, and many, many more. At the same time though, large (inter)national chains have lately taken over some of the bigger footprints on West 4th.
So the question is simple: what local, independently owned businesses would you miss?
The next step is simple too: stop in & say hi.