'Twas the season for shoppers to be in full swing with Black Friday, Cyber Monday and now Shop Local Saturday all directly after Thanksgiving. As a small business owner you know I was happy to see the birth of this new movement that is spurred by American Express. It is pleasing to see new emphasis put on small business, to see it become the new in thing, like "going green" has become. The Sunday Star business section featured the first article in a series about an up and coming doughnut business being launched on the east side. Mike Ferrell, a former manager of Krispy Kreme, is an entrepreneur you just want to support after reading his story. But his story is not unique. Every small business owner has a dream and a story to tell, varied as they all may be.

This last spring our own area "shop local" movement was born - Midtown Loves Local. Headed up by Deborah Stoll and comprised of merchants and local business people the group has made a presence at public events such as farmers' markets, art fairs and festivals. The Bank of Indianapolis and Nuvo are big supporters and sponsors. You will see the orange and gray logo colors showing up on tee shirts, bags, pins and book marks. Their goal is to make you aware of just how important it is to keep local business going. They tell us these facts: For each dollar you spend at an independent, locally owned Midtown business, approximately 80% goes back to the community versus about 35% from a franchise or chain - and 0% from the Internet. (That's huge - reread it!) And. . . small local businesses are the largest employer nationally and, in Midtown, provide the most jobs to residents. The Star states that fully half of all private-sector jobs in the nation are in small business. And research shows that startup businesses, in particular, are the most important source of jobs and a main driver of innovation and productivity gains that raise our standard of living. The number of business closures has topped startups nationally in each of the past three years. By contrast, in every previous year dating to the mid 1990's, more businesses opened than closed. Startups with fewer than 20 employees have a 37 % chance of surviving four years and a 9% chance of lasting ten years.

On December 4th, 2010, a local event took place at 52nd and College. "Christmas on the Corner" featured Photos with Santa, Christmas music, refreshments, trees and wreaths all provided by local businesses: Metropolitan Music & Cinema, Aristocrats Pub, Habig Garden Shop, City Dogs Grocery, Claire Corbin Photography and Broad Ripple neighbor, Jerry Taber as Santa. Midtown Loves Local was present to make you aware how important shopping local is.

On a personal note, because of your support of my small business I am happy to announce that City Dogs Grocery is able to open a 2nd store at 884 Massachusetts Ave. It's about that dream that I mentioned every small business owner has. Before I ever opened I had it in my mind that I might someday expand - hence the name City Dogs Grocery. It could be in any city. Here's how my 2nd store came about. I'm crediting fellow Gazette columnist Jill Ditmire as being the catalyst. She sent me an encouraging email, out of the blue, regarding a disturbing issue I was facing. I meant to respond but days passed. I decided to go down personally and thank her for her kind words. I went down six weeks ago with my husband Dennis and we sat at her Mass Ave. Wine Shoppe sipping wine and talking. It's a cozy little place with tables and sunny windows overlooking the new Cultural Trail. As we sat there imbibing we watched all the doggies walking down the trail. I looked at Jill and said "we need to be here" and she replied "yes you do" and "the shop two doors down is closing". I got up and walked down the street to peer in the windows. I went back and said to her "I love it!". She said "good, because I called Tom and he is waiting to hear from you". It turns out Tom is the landlord that lives two blocks down from me on the same side of the street. So after talking with him on and off we walked down the street and sat with him signing the lease. We decided to open in THREE WEEKS! We had to cash in on that last two weeks of Christmas shopping. This is where you come in. You see, you put the HO, HO, HO in Merry Christmas because you support small local business and make Christmas dreams come true. I always say "pets make you smile" but so do loyal customers. Bless you! See you on the Avenue (College or Mass.) Come down to Jill's and have a glass of wine. It's a cool place. And keep your eyes open for Mike Ferrell's new doughnuts called Virginia Kay's.