For Homebody Owner, BURG Is The Word

For local business owner Margaret Breslau, adjusting to small town life was difficult. The Chicago native, who moved to Blacksburg from Tel Aviv, Israel, remembers being unhappy during her first year here.

These days, Breslau is a prominent activist for preserving a traditional downtown in Blacksburg. She was a key player in the battle against Wal-Mart that ignited the town in 2007.

Breslau’s involvement in the community began after a period of self-reflection. “There is a point where you realize, you make your own world,” she says.

Breslau’s store, Homebody, is nestled in the heart of downtown Blacksburg. She uses it as a platform to campaign for international concerns.

Homebody is unlike any store in the area. Nowhere else can you find vases made from recycled magazines, headbands made from swimsuit remnants and paper made from elephant dung.

Nicole Osowski, a longtime Homebody shopper, says that she patronizes the store because of its “amazing items.” Her favorite purchase has been a purse made from one continuous zipper.

The store’s website advertises itself as “retail activism, shopping that supports fair wages and decent labor practice, environmentally sustainable production and raising awareness.”

“I knew I couldn’t just have things that were made from sweatshops,” Breslau says. “So I thought, ‘How hard can that be?’ It’s actually really hard.”

The Fair Trade Federation certifies all of the internationally made products sold at Homebody. Manufacturers undergo a rigorous two-year process to certify their products and they are subject to continuing oversight. Some of their profits must be used to support projects in their communities.

Here in Blacksburg, Breslau spreads the word about fair trade and decent labor practices. “I have two full time jobs,” she says. “One is in the store and the other is educating people and myself.”

Jessica Jones, an employee at the downtown art store Mish Mish and a regular customer at Homebody, says that Breslau’s thorough product research brings her piece of mind.

“Part of the reason I shop there … is because I trust [Margaret’s] judgment,” Jones says.

Although she is hundreds of miles away from the people that her store supports, Breslau still senses the results of her work. “Every time I make a sale, I feel like this is helping a community somewhere … I feel like I’m doing my part,” she says. “That’s how change happens, day-by-day, and if you take it any other way, you probably wouldn’t do anything.”

She says that she sees a growing local awareness about sweatshops fueled in part by recent mainstream media reports, celebrity activism and relevant classes at Virginia Tech.

Despite the surge in popularity of her cause, she says that Homebody’s profits have been affected by the recession. Still, she believes that the store’s longevity and reasonable prices will help it through difficult economic times.

Breslau says that it has never been easy to run a small business in downtown Blacksburg, where rent is “ridiculously high.”

Yet, she chooses to keep Homebody on Main Street. “It’s really important to keep your traditional downtown, because I think it has a lot to do with quality of life,” Breslau says. “Growth-for-growth’s-sake development fragments community.”

In 2007, it was that attitude that led Breslau into a fierce legal battle with Fairmount Properties, a development group with plans to build a Wal-Mart on South Main Street.

The group went against a rezoning application that outlined a “mixed-use town center with commercial, residential, office, retail, hotel, entertainment, public and cultural facilities interconnected with open spaces.”

Breslau and her husband formed the community organization Blacksburg United for Responsible Growth, widely known by the acronym BURG, to combat what she calls “bait- and-switch development.”

Usually soft spoken, Breslau’s voice rises frequently and bubbles over with impassioned laughter when she discusses her campaign.

“You can’t do that,” she says. “You can’t just come in and do whatever you want. We’re not going to let you do that!”

BURG quickly grew, pulling a diverse group of members from across the community.

Jessica Jones, who serves on the BURG steering committee, says that she admires Breslau’s initiative. “[She] takes an active role in the political process … She doesn’t wait for other people to make things right,” Jones says.

BURG campaigned for the passage of Ordinance 1450, which requires developers to obtain a special use permit to build a retail store of 80,000 square feet or more in Blacksburg.

After the board of zoning appeals determined that Ordinance 1450 did not apply to the Fairmount property, BURG filed an appeal with the Virginia Supreme Court and won its case.

“Working with BURG was so meaningful because it pulled so many people together,” Breslau says.

She calls BURG her most personal activism project. “When you can do something right where you live, it’s always the most meaningful,” she says.

Breslau continues to be involved with a vast array of community groups including the Downtown Merchants of Blacksburg, the Coalition for Justice and Sustainable Blacksburg.

Never satisfied, she says, “Life is always a work in progress and that is why I’m a community activist, because I think things can be improved in this town.”