Island store owners talk about cooperation and challenges

Lisa Twombly, who runs the Matinicus Island Store with her mother, Ann, has had her share of praise about the store. But kind words alone won't keep an island store going.

"We love that you're store is here," a customer said. "If people really love the stores, than they need to shop here," said Twombly. They need to buy staples, "they need to come in here and buy milk."

This is one of the many challenges facing island stores. A group of seven island store owners and buying club operators discussed common issues facing these types of small businesses, from freight and shipping, to mark up strategies, to integrating technology into their operations, at an April meeting held at the Island Institute.

The daylong session was arranged by Eliza Greenman of the Islesford Buying Club. She is also the Island Institute's Cranberry Isles Sustainable Community Development Fellow.

Greenman and Tara Hire, of Carina on Monhegan, both attended the 2009 Sustainable Island Living conference, and realized that there are many common issues facing these island-based businesses.

They contacted other island store owners and buying clubs operators and invited them to a meeting of the minds. David Gulak, manager of the Barrels Community Market in Waterville, also joined the group to offer his expertise on "buying local."

The day started with talk of freight and shipping issues, which vary drastically from island to island. Matinicus, for example, has to ship everything by plane through Penobscot Island Air out of Owls Head. Twombly said it costs $155 every time she goes to the mainland to buy stock.

Tammy DesJardins, owner of the Offshore Store in Frenchboro, talked about her strategy for having reasons to go off the island-selling lobsters to friends or acquaintances, hopefully selling picked crab meat after obtaining her certification in August, personal shopping- in order to justify the high costs of freight.

One of Twombly's issues is that on the mainland, there is nowhere for her to store her produce. "I have my produce dropped at my meat distributor because my produce person won't go to the airport," she said.

Aaron Fuchs, vice president of business management at the Island Institute, said he would look into allowing a cooler for store owners and buying club operators to be housed in the basement of the institute's office in Rockland. Twombly would supply the cooler.

Fuchs said that space could also be provided for dry storage. "The Island Institute is working with island businesses to provide whatever assistance it can," Fuchs said in an e-mail.

Other topics addressed in the meeting included: choosing vendors, licensing issues, community involvement and volunteerism, advertising, mainland partners, the year-round vs. seasonal customer base and the difficulties of buying local.

Steve Corman, of Pearl's Seaside Market on Cliff, spoke about how the island store is a crucial part of an island community, an important fact that owners should be reinforcing. Corman said he is the food buyer for the island group that organizes Cliff's July 4^th celebration, and as a result, islanders associate the store with that holiday. Other owners talked about events they hold to attract customers.

But it's more than being an island institution; island store owners are also entrepreneurs, who have to "figure out a way to make money without giving too much away," Corman said.

Tara Hire said she juggles up to 30 vendors in order to provide local goods at a reasonable price. She showed the group how she uses technology-spreadsheets, Google documents, and others-to help her keep organized.

The day closed with participants breaking into geographic groups, based on islands that are served by a common mainland port. It is possible that, now having met, it may be possible for stores to pool together for minimum orders or to share shipping costs.

Annie Brown is the donor relations and event coordinator at the Island Institute. She also operates the Fox Islands Buying Club on North Haven. David A. Tyler is editor of The Working Watefront.