There was general agreement Tuesday that more should be done to urge and encourage Ely area residents to shop locally.
But determining just what should be done, how it would be done, and by whom proved to be a challenge during a roughly 90-minute session devoted to the topic held at the Ely Folk School.
The latest in a series of public forums, hosted by Ely council member Adam Bisbee, brought about 10 people to the table and sparked concern over how much shopping is done by Ely area residents either out of town or via online options such as Amazon.
The holiday season brings that issue even more sharply into focus and Bisbee sought answers, ideas and possible solutions from a group that included local business owners as well as Eva Sebesta, executive director of the Ely Chamber of Commerce.
“To see the dollars leaving this down is disappointing,” said Bisbee.
Bisbee estimated that thousands of dollars per day are being spent locally on Amazon orders.
“It’s very frustrating when people default to online purchasing, which is putting champagne in a billionaire’s glass,” Bisbee. “That’s having major impact on our local businesses.”
Instead, Bisbee suggested those dollars could be spent in Ely, at local businesses, helping to spur economic activity and support jobs in town.
Sebesta said the online trend accelerated during the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Covid really kind of set the tone,” she said. “When so many things were shut down and you were kind of stranded at home, and being able to go online and order became much more prominent.”
The discussion veered on several tangents, including a recent wish list put forward by the elementary school PTO, and highlighting items sought by local teachers, many of whom pointed to Amazon for purchasing those items.
Sebesta estimated that 75 percent of those items can be purchased locally, while Bisbee said he spoke to a business owner who would be “more than happy to order those things.”
Discussion ideas included more awareness and perhaps a campaign to let people know what items are available in town, as well as efforts to highlight the impact of local businesses on the area’s economy, and the negative impact related to shopping dollars going out of town.
Tara Boerst also defended the PTO campaign and noted some of the limitations shoppers face in Ely.
“Some of those school supplies - where are you going to buy them in town?” she said. “If the one store in town isn’t carrying what the teachers are looking for, you’re going to have to go to Amazon or Target.”
Sebesta said that the Chamber, when ShopKo closed several years ago, made a running list of items that once were available there, and where they were then available at other Ely businesses.
And despite the best efforts of many to promote local shopping, some indicated that Ely is fighting trends that extend beyond the city’s boundaries as they relate to online shopping - and its impact on retail outlets and malls across the nation.
“How do you tell people they can’t Amazon?” one audience member asked the group. “They can order what they want any time of the day.”
The speaker also added that many families and individuals are faced with a finite amount of money they can spend for food and other supplies each month, and that shoppers sometimes encounter stores that aren’t open when they need to purchase a particular item.
“There’s so many times you can’t find the things you’re looking for so you give up or you order online or you drive to Virginia,” said Boerst.
Participants also lamented that at times, even posts on local social media pages suggest going elsewhere to purchase items.
They also addressed potential campaigns, including “shop local” logos or designs that could be placed at local businesses and advertised in publications such as the Ely Echo.
One participant offered up slogans such as “Ely Centric” or “Ely First.”
After the meeting, Sebesta said previous attempts to promote local shopping and buying have struggled to gain traction.
Local business owner Kara Polyner suggested differing campaigns - one for businesses that sell commodities and everyday items and another for downtown businesses that appeal to a different market.
Polyner also voiced reservations about the appeal and who makes it, suggesting that pleas from business owners may come off as too desperate.
Participants also offered up other ideas, including a request that the city take on snow removal of all sidewalks in the business district.
While the forums hosted by Bisbee are informal in nature, there was also talk of the group gathering again to consider further steps.
Bisbee offered further remarks in support of buying local and supporting Ely businesses.
“It’s thousands of dollars per day,” he said of the impact of online commerce. “To see that money just leave that town, it’s disappointing for me to see people work so hard to keep businesses open let alone profitable. “You want to see your businesses thrive, hire more employees, maybe pay better wages or provide health insurance or paid time off. But nobody can reach those goals if the community isn’t giving them permission to do so with their spending dollars.”
