CRENSHAW : Chamber to Promote Shopping in Area

To counter the trend of residents spending money outside the neighborhood, the Crenshaw Chamber of Commerce will launch a consumer awareness campaign called “Ten Miles Too Far.”

The media campaign involving Crenshaw Corridor businesses and organizations seeks to keep local shoppers at home--or at least within a 10-mile radius. The plan, which was devised by entrepreneur Etha Robinson and will get under way in January, will stress the benefits of spending money within the community. The yearlong program will encompass window signs and banners, direct mailings, business-sponsored contests and entertainment.

The campaign has yet to be budgeted.

“As black people, we need to have a united front,” said Robinson, owner of Mrs. Robinson’s Tea Cakes in the Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza.

“I came to the chamber in August with this concept because I felt there had to be an ongoing, concerted effort among everyone to raise people’s consciousness. There’s a lot of discretionary income in this area, especially in Ladera Heights, Baldwin Hills and View Park. We simply can’t continue giving up our wealth to others.”

Besides the chamber, Robinson has also asked the shopping plaza, the Urban League, the Los Angeles Sentinel newspaper, homeowners associations and others to join her in urging residents to recycle Crenshaw dollars.

“People need to look at this premise,” said Craig Sasser, executive director of the chamber. “They need to ask themselves, ‘How far am I going to shop?’ We’re not asking people to spend 100% of their money in Crenshaw, just make an adjustment to about 20%. That alone would have a huge impact.

“We want residents to give the community a chance.”

As part of the campaign, Ted Fortier, a dentist and longtime Crenshaw resident, plans to give business talks about “The Birth and Death of the Dollar in the Crenshaw Community.”

“We as black people tend to look for things in black businesses to criticize,” Fortier said.

“Just because you don’t find an expensive perfume at a Crenshaw store, don’t condemn the whole district. We have to really examine our points of view and change them.”

Information: (213) 292-7000.