![Officials from Akron, Warren and eBay celebrated the 12-month 'Retail Revival' program, which has since expanded to Michigan, South Carolina, Canada and Great Britain.[Kabir Bhatia / WKSU]](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/4339012/2147483647/strip/true/crop/3264x2448+0+0/resize/840x630!/format/webp/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Flegacy%2Fimages%2Fnews%2Fnpr%2F2019%2F02%2F696856371_426408861.jpg)
Organizers of the eBay-backed “Retail Revival” program closed their one-year mission Thursday with a look back at their successes – and what they learned – in Northeast Ohio.
The program launched last year and helped about 70 small businesses in Warren and Akron sell online more effectively. Chris Librie, eBay’s Head of Global Impact & Giving, says the most successful businesses were the ones that offered a unique slant on an existing product.
“People who’ve created their own cosmetics, their own skin-care products to their own fashion. You can go to a ladies’ clothing store anywhere, right? But if you have a point-of-view, you can really be something that becomes a destination, no matter where the person is doing their purchasing.”
Although the formal Retail Revival program was limited to 12 months, the company’s philanthropic foundation is giving a total of $70,000 in grants to two of its community partners here, The Well Community Development Corporation and CraftyMart. Copyright 2019 WKSU. To see more, visit WKSU.