Small Business Marches On in Atlanta

Monday was a big day for small business in Atlanta. We are thrilled to announce that the specialty food shop legislation passed before the full city council with an 11 - 2 vote. Once this legislation goes into law next week, The Mercantile and several other small businesses in Atlanta will have the chance of surviving in this economy because we will be able to offer wine and beer alongside all of the convenience stores, package stores and big box grocery stores that currently dominate Atlanta's landscape.

We at The Mercantile are so grateful to our city leaders for making Atlanta a better place for small business. I was there all afternoon to watch the proceedings. It was quite the nail biter. The specialty food shop legislation received quite a bit of discussion and went through an extensive amendment process up until the last minute. It even passed once and then got recalled for re-consideration because of the wine tasting segment of the legislation. Evantually, that was resolved and the legislation was voted on once again with an 11-2 vote.

Sitting near the back of the auditorium I watched six of our twelve councilmembers clearly working, negotiating and re-working this legislation towards a vote. I was truly amazed. What a tremendous process!

Even before our vote on Monday, a lot of work had been contributed to get to that big day. Cleta Winslow, chair of the pubilc safety committee diligently communicated with the city law department to ensure issues were ironed out. Anne Fauver has worked with us at The Mercantile for months communicating progress and making suggestions. Councilman Kwanza Hall and his tireless staff have been a constant advocate not only for small business, but for the specialty foods and restaurant industry and it's value to the city of Atlanta. Mr. Hall stopped into The Mercantile for lunch today and shared that he hopes to bring small food businesses like The Mercantile to his district in the Edgewood Avenue/Downtown corridor. (Heads up future entrepreneurs! The future is looking brighter!)

On the day of the vote, even more councilmembers went to work for small business. Councilwoman Natalyn Archibong, the author and sponsor of the legislation managed to assist the council in addressing an inadvertent loophole through the amendment process. She rather amazingly managed to address all of the concerns of the NPUs and still consider the urgency of the specialty groceries who had no time to waste in getting the legislation passed. Councilwomen Carla Smith and Mary Norwood ensured all of the amendments were in place and would work effectively. Everyone was trying to negotiate this thing toward a vote!

I would be remiss if I did not mention that we received clear, accurate and wise insight from our legal consultant, Kevin Ross of Kevin Ross Public Affairs. He helped me to understand the legal process in the city of Atlanta and I recommend his services to anyone who is seeking to enter city hall or the state capitol and not get lost.

On behalf of Team Merc, I would like to also extend a heartfelt thanks to all of our guests and neighbors. When it came time to vote not only at Public Safety, but at the full City Council, it was evident that so many members of council had received letters, emails and phone calls on behalf of the specialty food shop legislation. They were ready to vote. Having the 900 signatures on a petition did not hurt either. I am utterly convinced that this giant leap for small business would not have occurred without the community we have built in the past six months since our opening. Thank you so much to everyone for your support.

We will soon begin the application process with the City of Atlanta to obtain our license. We hope to be offering you wine and beer by May. You can expect us to start small with a collection of boutique, yet affordable wines. We'll continue expanding our support of local products by bringing in beers from local breweries. We will not be the biggest game in town and we have no plans to operate in a competitive or unfriendly nature towards our neighbors already in business. But, we'll be here for you with a few nice bottles to choose from when you want to take home some wine with one of Chef Samantha's meals!


See you in the shop!
-Janea Boyles