Jeff Pelline's Sierra Foothills Report

My wife and I attended both tourism workshops in our county this fall — one in Grass Valley and one in Truckee — as part of the effort to boost tourism.

I enjoyed the Truckee one most of all, because it provided some fresh thinking. For example, most of us think of going from the western county to the eastern half for skiing and winter sports — but it cuts both ways

After visiting Truckee, people observed that vacationing skiers might like to enjoy a break to the more temperate western county for shopping, wine tasting and events such as Mardi Gras, provided the highway over the “hill” is dry. I liked the potential for inter-county collaboration on tourism.

I’ve been discussing this concept with some local merchants, some of whom have wanted to promote the western county as a ski stop — for lodging and dining.

The upcoming issue of Sierra FoodWineArt magazine, and its companion website SierraCulture.com, will promote Nevada City and Grass Valley for a “ski break.”

It also will feature the Nevada City Mardi Gras, which runs March 5 and 6. The Mardi Gras, as many of you know, features traditional cajun food, street faire, a masquerade ball and parade.

Ike’s Quarter Cafe dishes up home-made, all-natural cajun fare year-round, and it will be discussed too.

It also will feature local photography from Gary Swenor (the woman in the Mardi Gras mask) and Larry Miller (whose food shots I am very fond of). Larry is a big Ike’s fan too. This one is blackened fish with red beans and rice, a classic cajun dish.

The magazine circulates to Sacramento, Reno, Butte County and Tahoe/Truckee, so it will help promote this idea to “flatlanders.”

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Northeastern and Harvard university researchers have gathered Twitter data to show how U.S. residents feel throughout a typical day or week. The background is here.

“It will surprise almost no one to learn that there is a general mood slump mid-day and mid-week, when we are most likely to be at work. Our tweets show that we’re happiest in the early morning and late evening; during the week, our mood tends to peak on Sunday morning,” according to the report on Mashable.

“Less predictable, perhaps, is the fact that West Coast tweets were ‘happier’ than tweets from the East Coast. Although West Coast Twitter users expressed emotions in the same cycles as the East Coast users (with a three-hour gap, of course, because of time zone differences), the West Coasters didn’t dip as low in mood as the East Coasters by a significant margin.”

Some of the best infographics from this year are here.

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“Mom and pop” businesses come and go — in Nevada City and elsewhere.

A rising star in Nevada City is BYOB Wine Seller, which you read about here first.

Why? I like the concept: It is unique, recession friendly and “eco friendly.” BYOB offers three wines in bulk, all moderately priced. You bring back the original bottle for refilling and reuse.

“Our slogan is save a bottle, save a buck. While recycling is great, reuse is even better,” said Partner Tony Norskog. Other partners include Paul Matson and Sally Harris of Nevada City.

It also is a “brick and mortar” location, in the Seven Hills Business District.

On Monday, BYOB launched a Facebook page. I “liked” the page and 59 people have joined since — all in the first day.

BYOB is a reminder that we’re not “dying” as a city; we just have to reinvent ourself with innovative businesses, not run of the mill ones.

More and more local businesses are promoting themselves on Facebook, as I’ve written before. Details are here.

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Here’s the message we’re sending to the “flatlands” during the holiday season:

We were watching Sacramento’s Channel 10 News on television on Monday night and, lo and behold, a Nevada City Chamber board member (who also was on the board of the now-defunct business improvement district) appeared to tout the benefits of buying online.

Jim McConnaughay, owner of Country Collectibles, on Broad Street, said it was getting rid of the physical store in favor of a virtual one. They expect to close the brick and mortar store by the end of January, a rumor that has been going around for a little while.

(There are more, similar rumors out there, I might add).

Jim cited all the costs that go with a “brick and mortar” store, including rent. No kidding. (The building where Country Collectibles was located was owned by Gary Tintle, a fellow Chamber board member).

I was surprised Jim, as a newly re-elected chamber board member, appeared on Sacramento television with this perspective; it doesn’t help our city’s cause much. (We’re upping our involvement in the chamber, meanwhile, donating a weekend in Lake Tahoe at the upcoming installation dinner to help raise money).

Country Collectible’s closure on Broad Street in Nevada City comes as JordanWood is closing its store on Mill Street in Grass Valley and going online only.

“JordanWood was a beautiful store, and they were active members of our downtown community,” wrote Grass Valley Downtown Association Executive Director Howard Levine on Facebook.

We did buy a wonderful wooden advent calendar for our son at JordanWood this holiday season.

TV stations don’t dig deeper, but to succeed in a “mom and pop” retail business, you’re better off:

•Owning your own building, where you can control one of the biggest fixed costs.
•Providing a unique, local product. In my view, too many of our stores sell products that you can buy elsewhere, including on the internet.
•Provide outstanding customer service.
•You need to market and promote yourself outside our economic and cultural “cul de sac.” Our population is flat to declining. You need to draw visitors from the “flatlands.”

In truth, the competition is much stiffer online, and the marketing hurdles to differentiate yourself are greater. Though online is growing at a faster rate, the sales are small compared to “brick and mortar” sales.

Good luck to both stores in their online-only ventures.

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