Here’s a letter that StittsvilleCentral.ca received from Stittsville real estate rep Tim Larocque:
With the Christmas season upon us and the opening of the Tanger Outlets, it is very easy to spend all of your time shopping at the national chains and franchises.
Being in real estate, I have the pleasure to meet so many interesting and amazing people including small business owners and entrepreneurs.
Because there is no formal BIA (business improvement area) or chamber for Stittsville, I feel there is more that needs to be done to highlight and promote some of the great businesses that exist in our village.
Several studies show that for every 100 dollars spent at local, independent stores, there is a much higher amount returned to the community vs national chains.
There is a great event coming up that will highlight many of these businesses and I also would like to start a “Small Business Saturday” that encourages everyone to spend locally for at least one day during the holiday season.
I would love to explore how we could do something together if you are interested.
–Tim Larocque
Editor’s note: I think this is a great idea. I would like to hear from readers and small business owners about any ideas you have on how we can support a Stittsville-based “small business day” in late November or early December. You can leave a comment below or email me at feedback@stittsvillcentral.ca. -GG.
Excellent idea Tim. I’d be more than happy to participate and/or support an event such as this. Is there a venue in Stittsville that can support such an event?
We would love to take part in an event or help out in any way to promote small businesses in Stittsville. It’s always a struggle to compete with the big box stores but if we stand together as a community and support each other first then maybe we won’t lose the charm and the unique offerings of the many small businesses in Stittsville.
Hear hear! I’m also interested in contributing to developing a BIA (it was tried a few/several years ago apparently?). As a Web developer who has lived and worked in the area for many years, I’m very surprised there isn’t an official one yet given all of the businesses in the area.
A BIA was soundly rejected by most of the small business owners that attended the meeting a few years ago (as well as the other meeting a few years before that). A BIA is not free. Each business has to pay for it. The figure they were throwing around was min $1000/year, depending on business size. That’s to pay for the director and his/her staff and overhead, then the advertising and/or events come in after that in extra payments. There were business owners at those meetings who were already members of BIAs in other regions and they were very unhappy with those BIAs, catering to some businesses more than others, etc.
Be careful what you wish for.
…and once a BIA is put in place, a business within the BIA has no choice, they have to pay the fees. It’s tacked on to their tax bill, like an extra tax.