Numbers add up for small retailers

-- Deborah Cohen covers small business for Reuters.com. She can be reached at smallbusinessbigissues@yahoo.com --

By Deborah L. Cohen

CHICAGO (Reuters.com) -- Jack Trifero has found safety in numbers. The founder and long-time operator of the Gramophone Shop, a music and media store in the tony New York City suburb of New Canaan, Connecticut, has teamed up with his fellow retailers in an effort to keep shoppers - and their holiday dollars - on local turf.

Four years ago the town's merchant community banded together to combat the increased proliferation of chain stores and big box retailers competing for business in what has always been a strong retail community with a plethora of high end specialty shops.

The result was a nouvelle attempt to return to the small-town qualities that American painter Normal Rockwell heralded more than a generation ago. Events such as the New Canaan Village Association's Holiday Stroll, a weekend celebration on December 5th and 6th, prepares the town for the year-end festivities and gives merchants a chance to showcase their goods. There's a tree lighting ceremony, visits by Santa, a ginger house tour and live entertainment.

"We sensed something was wrong and we were going to try to be positive about it," says Trifero, whose first New Canaan store opened its doors 35 years ago. "We're sharing ideas, we're sourcing clients for each other. We're thinking as a unit."

While he has no false expectations for a blow-out holiday season in a depressed retail economy, Trifero believes that joint efforts such as these can make a big difference in riding out the rough patches by attracting and retaining repeat business - long the lifeblood of small retailers who must make their mark by going the extra mile for customers.

"We're trying to make them understand the value of this community and we're trying to understand their needs," he says. "We're giving back to our town."

FIGHTING BACK