Retail Is Local: Lean Into Your Community
Despite e-commerce’s rise, retail‘s essence remains inherently local. Physical stores that root themselves in specific neighborhoods, serving unique community needs, can thrive if the local community embraces them. An effective strategy to win the embrace of a local community is demonstrating to the community that you understand and embrace the local community, culture and people. This approach fosters loyalty, drives growth and can set retailers apart from their competitors.
Localized retail:
• Fosters community pride and loyalty
• Differentiates stores from chains
• Supports local economies
• Encourages cultural preservation
Cultural Empowerment
A great example of this might be the recent grand opening of Alta Dispensary in New York’s Chinatown. Owner Vanessa Yee-Chan was quoted as saying “At Alta, our mission is to create a dispensary where consumers and the community can feel empowered.” At Alta’s grand opening, Vanessa paid homage to her own culture and to the local community by bringing in lion dancers, local elected officials, food from local establishments and even donated all proceeds to a local charity partner, Send Chinatown Love, displaying a strong sense of connection to and knowledge of the local community and people.
Mural Trouble
In Brooklyn, The Emerald Dispensary almost courted disaster due to a dispute about having to paint over a beloved mural of local hero and hip hop legend, Biggie Smalls. The tribute, depicting a young Christopher Wallace, was painted by a local artist named Huetek, and it had been on the exterior wall of the property for 3+ years before the dispensary took over. Owners Christina De Giovanni and Ramon Roman were quoted as saying “We love this mural from the minute we moved into this building, and we had artwork done on the front of the building and along the side, we all agreed we’re not touching this big mural. We love this. This stays.”
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However, such a portrait on the exterior wall potentially violates NYS’s advertising rules for cannabis, thus the owners made the very tough decision to paint over it and sparked backlash from the community and calls of boycotts. Luckily, and with incredible foresight, they used removable paint to cover the mural and when the OCM clarified that the mural can stay, they were able to restore it. It’s clear that their innate understanding of the local community informed their decision to take extra care of the artwork such that it could be restored, because they understood its importance to the community.
Final Thoughts
In today’s competitive market, going local is not just a niche approach — it’s a vital component of retail success. Here are a few ways to pay homage to your local community:
• Local Products and Partnerships: Showcase regional artisans, farmers and suppliers.
• Community Events: Host workshops, fundraisers and events reflecting local interests.
• Store Design: Incorporate local materials, artwork and historical elements.
• Staff Engagement: Hire locally, train staff on community history and encourage neighborhood involvement.
• Philanthropy: Support local charities, sponsor community initiatives.
• Storytelling: Share local legends, historical anecdotes and cultural significance.
By embracing the local, retailers can unlock the power of community-driven commerce.