This city loves itself. We love our independently owned restaurants and the local chefs who run them. We burst with pride over our talented musicians, actors, writers, and artists. One look at any one of the bustling farmers’ markets scattered about the city on a weekend and it is clear we love our farmers and the wonderful food they provide us. We enjoy and, some might say, have a preference for shopping at locally owned and run businesses. We even have a motto for it: Keep Louisville Weird.
Or, rather, that is the motto of the Louisville Independent Business Alliance. The group promotes local businesses and the buy-local-first philosophy that so many members of this city have wholeheartedly embraced. Because of our love of small businesses and supporting our local economy, we have made many local businesses a success. And what happens when a business is successful? They grow, of course. After all, as someone once said, the business of business is business.
However, we first-world humans are a fickle bunch. A funny thing happens when our little-known or underground favorite small business blows up and becomes favored by the masses. We turn on them and decry them sellouts, which they may or may not be. Everyone prefers an underdog.
So how does a local business expand without alienating its initial customer base? How can the buy-local mentality be reconciled with opening stores in other cities or with selling a product in a chain store? And should small business owners even care?
Leslie Bowers, owner of Peace of the Earth, thinks business owners should care about this, but is not sure if walking the buy-local line can be fully reconciled with wholesaling or opening up shops in other cities.
“Philosophy is one thing,” said Bowers. “But you can’t argue with the volume of a national store.”
Bowers and her husband, Joe, run a natural bath boutique located in the NuLu neighborhood. The store features Bowers’ line of handmade organic soaps and lotions, as well as eco-friendly bathroom products and décor. They recently launched a Web store and are trying to decide what the next step is for their business. Growth is imminent, but the manner of that growth is still up in the air.
“I would hope we could keep our small town, buy-local ethics,” said Bowers. “But, at the end of the day, while we started this company for the community and the earth, we have two small children to feed. And do I really want to be 65 and still stirring the pot of lotion myself?”
Bowers’ dream is to eventually become a national brand. They already have several wholesale accounts with shops in Lexington and Cincinnati, as well as Amazing Green Planet in Louisville’s East End. They have had offers to sell in a major chain and are still considering the implications of that. She realizes that the success of her company is because of the dedication this city has to its local merchants. But, like many entrepreneurs, she struggles with guilt about growth. When contemplating how to turn a profit, she considers the fraction of our society with the big-is-bad complex.
“There has to be a way you can walk the walk, make money, and do great things for your community and the earth,” said Bowers. “And we’re going to find it.”
Erika Chavez-Graziano, owner of Cellar Door Chocolates, has her flagship store in the Butchertown Market Building and satellite shops in local businesses around the city, specifically Greenhaus, Gemelli Wine & Spirits, and the Galt House. She has also expanded her business to shops in Chicago and elsewhere in Kentucky.
In making the decision to expand, the economics major admits that keeping Louisville weird didn’t factor in. Chavez-Graziano comes at this with a shrewd mind for business and very little sentimentality. Any expansion within the city or outside of it was and will be carefully calculated and made with the bottom line foremost in her mind. However, she does not take this city for granted and will be the first to say how much she loves Louisville.
“We are successful only because Louisville is awesome and supports local business,” said Chavez-Graziano. “In my hometown [Albuquerque, N.M.], I never would have succeeded. People here will spend the extra dollar, go the extra mile, to buy local.”
No matter how big her wholesale business gets or how many satellite shops she opens, Chavez-Graziano doesn’t envision a time when her gourmet chocolates aren’t made here in Louisville. This is where she and Bowers hit on the same note. Regardless of how much they grow, they both intend to keep producing their wares locally.
Mike Mays, co-owner of Heine Brothers’ Coffee, sees no plans in the near future for taking their coffee outside of the city either, but is a seasoned enough businessman to take a never-say-never position. The market within the city limits has allowed them to expand considerably since they opened their doors in 1994. Including the four Vint locations, the company now has 15 cafes all over the city. But Mays is no stranger to the unease that growing a small business can bring.
“I used to worry about big being bad and that growing the business might take away from the magic of local,” said Mays. “But I no longer make apologies for it. Growth has enabled us to stay competitive, profitable, and viable.”
Heine Brothers’ is committed to giving back to the community in a big way. They have a decade-long relationship with The Center for Women and Families. A portion of the profit from the popular Ronda’s Blend is donated to them. They also give to a number of local charities – Dare to Care Food Bank, United Crescent Hill Ministries, and Highlands Community Ministries, to name a few – by writing small monthly checks, as if the charity was on the payroll. This allows them to do good consistently, instead of in one large sum at the end of the fiscal year. All of this giving, according to Mays, wouldn’t be possible without the expansion and continued success of the business.
“Coasting is dangerous,” said Mays. “There always needs to be growth and goals. If you’re stagnant, your employees don’t see opportunity to reach their goals for the future. You’re not able to give additional opportunities, raises, promotions, etc.”
Louisville’s small businesses are concerned about taking care of their employees and the environment, as well as staying conscious of whether or not the measured expansion of their business is having a positive impact on the community around them. And these are all reasons why we should embrace the success of our small businesses. Growth is good.
In the words of Leslie Bowers: “If my neighborhood does well, I do well.” And in the end, we’re all part of one big neighborhood.
–Sara Jones–Rust
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