Catch 22? Buy local but local lacks

Amid dour economic news, business experts said a stay-close-to-home attitude would serve Yuba-Sutter best in bringing back the local economy.

Those experts, speaking at the Yuba-Sutter Chamber of Commerce's Business Connection breakfast Friday in Linda, said there needs to be an unwavering message of doing commerce locally if small businesses are to prosper.

Darin Gale, Yuba City's economic development director, pointed out $105 million "leaks" annually in retail sales to other cities, primarily Roseville and Sacramento.

In a nonscientific survey of consumers in the area undertaken by the city, those two ranked behind only Yuba City as where area residents do their shopping.

Why they do so was reflected in what people said they wanted to see locally: Clothing/department stores, a big-box electronics store, a bookstore and an upscale grocer like Trader Joe's or Whole Foods, Gale said.

Locally owned businesses can fill some of those niches, Gale said, and for the better.

"Honestly, speaking as an economic development guy, you see more benefit from a locally owned business," he said.

But the owners of local businesses have to meet consumers halfway, Gale said, noting consumers in the survey said local stores didn't always have convenient hours, good inventory selection or the best customer service.

Tim McKenna, president of Yuba City's Downtown Business Association, said he sympathizes with customers.

But many small stores in Yuba City are owner-operated, he said, and those folks don't always want to spend their lives at their stores.

"It becomes difficult then to extend to seven days, or longer hours," said McKenna, whose wife owns Linda's Soda Bar & Grill on Plumas Street. "And the business has to be there to support it."

In downtown Marysville, Best Collateral, a pawnshop chain, recently added hours on Sunday as a way to get customers who can't make it in by the 5:30 p.m. closing time Monday through Friday.

Store manager Tori Segers said traffic on Sundays has developed slowly, partly because there are few other stores open.

"Honestly, most of the business down here is this store and the gym," she said, as employees put up snowboards in the storefront window Friday. "The loan side picks up when times are hard, and the sale side picks up when it's good."

A few doors down, the owner of Jenan Fine Rugs & Decor said he keeps his doors open until 7 p.m., but needs marketing to boost his sales.

"This is a historic downtown, it's a nice place," said Ahmad Hamdan, who's had the store for two years. "They need to fill out all the empty spaces down here."

Another speaker at Friday's breakfast suggested local business owners and consumers will have to be self-sufficient, as the economy's recovery on a global or national scale might not be felt for awhile.

Michael Suplita, project specialist at the Center for Economic Development at California State University, Chico, said the downturn first in housing and then the whole economy resulted in a 9.33 percent drop in local incomes.

While housing prices, gross domestic product and equity prices have started to recover nationally, Suplita said, California is not quite there.

"Where you saw the biggest boom, you'll see the biggest bust," he said. "We're not poised to lead the nation in recovery."

Cambridge Junior College CEO Dan Flores largely let others do his speaking for him.

His presentation was taken up mostly by a brief video of his interviews of 40 local business owners, employees and leaders giving their take on the region's economic outlook.

"The news just gets worse and worse," Flores said, before introducing the video, in which most speakers said they'd admit times were tough.

But all seemed optimistic the situation would improve, though how soon was in question.

"As business owners, to be successful we have to keep an eye on different niches and different sectors that are successful," Flores said. "And we need to buy local."

Contact Appeal-Democrat reporter Ben van der Meer at 749-4709 or bvandermeer@appealdemocrat.com.