Small town merchants are facing increasing competition to keep retail dollars in their towns. Many small town residents drive to the Twin Cities or regional shopping hubs, such as Sioux Fall and Mankato. Small town retailers say bigger is not always better, and they're trying to get that message out to shoppers. But regional shopping hubs ARE attracting customers, somtimes from from as far as 150 miles away. Today we have a two part report on the regional competition for shoppers' dollars. We begin with Minnesota's Public Radio's Holly Nelson reporting on the southern Minnesota town of Le Sueur where shoppers are within easy driving distance of both the Twin Cities and Mankato.