Independents Matter

What is Independents Matter?
Independents Matter is a national grassroots campaign with a community focus created by Canadian Booksellers Association to encourage booksellers to celebrate their independence and promote the benefits of shopping locally at independently-owned stores. Independents Matter is part of a momentum-gaining movement in support of the idea that shopping locally offers the best value, the best retail experience and the best support for vibrant, vital and prosperous communities. CBA wants to help members spread this message through Independents Matter.

Among the many great reasons to shop at your local, independent bookstore:
- Local bookstores build community character, contributing to the distinct flavour and entertainment value of a neighbourhood.
- Local booksellers offer personalized service and recommend books with expertise, passion and unique insight into the tastes and interests of the community.
- Local bookstores support local causes—your teams, schools, charities and arts organizations.
- Money spent at your local bookstore helps sustain the local economy and create local jobs.
- Local bookstores offer you more choices—especially Canadian and regional choices.
- Local bookstores are literary and cultural hubs, bringing members of your community together to discuss books, exchange ideas and meet authors.

These are just a few of the many ways Independents Matter.
 

What is Independents’ Day?

On October 15, 2011 independent booksellers all across the country will celebrate CBA Independents’ Day—a day designed to promote the importance of locally owned businesses to lively communities. It serves as the official launch date for CBA’s Independents Matter campaign.

Why should I participate?
- Environmental, financial and cultural factors are combining to create a growing drive among consumers to reclaim their communities. Help to cultivate this desire by promoting how your store contributes to the economic health and unique identity of your community. Tell your customers what they have to gain from shopping there. By taking part in Independents Matter you join with hundreds of other like-minded stores to identify yourself as a convenient, creative, one-of-a-kind, welcoming place to shop.

- Neighbourhood Independent bookstores offer more than books; they offer an enriching cultural experience that allows consumers to feel good about driving shorter distances, keeping jobs and money within their own communities and discovering and supporting local authors and business owners.

- When you take part in Independents Matter by circulating or posting marketing materials, presenting an event or promotion, or raising awareness of this message among media and the public, your efforts combine with those of your fellow booksellers, amplifying the campaign’s voice on a national scale, all the while highlighting your store’s importance to its own community.

How can I get involved, and how do I promote my involvement?

View the Bookseller Idea Kit for ways to get involved in and promote the event.

Marketing material

Click here to download graphics, posters, bookmarks and video clips and to find out what other Independent Matter material is available to CBA Members.

Independent Testimony: authors tell us why they love their local Independent

"Long before I was a novelist, I was an independent bookseller, working at Toronto's Bakka Books--and ever since, I've made a point of supporting independents whenever I can; they are the heart and soul of the Canadian book trade, the people who are in it for the love of good books.  There's nowhere I'd rather spend an afternoon than browsing in one of Canada's many find independent bookstores."

- Robert J. Sawyer

“Long before Canadian writers became known internationally, the independent booksellers were devoted to encouraging Canadian readers and Canadian writers, and committed to forging the bond between them."

-  Jane Urquhart

“I revere and celebrate the independents because they are about literature, not merchandising, and hence stand in spiritual opposition to the times—much like the best of the books they carry.”

- Steven Heighton

“Independent bookstores have a relationship with their customers built on trust and respect. This work is personal, as personal as writing is to an author.

- Donna Morrissey

Think Independent       Read Independent       Buy Independent

For more information on CBA Independents’ Day, contact Jodi White at 416-467-7883, ext 227, or jwhite@cbabook.org.

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