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SHOP LOCAL 2009Introby Staff on Feb 12, 2009In Silicon Valley, the time is right to shop local. The movement caught fire last year, championed in the Bay Area by organizations like San Francisco Locally Owned Merchants Alliance (SFLOMA) and the East Bay’s Sustainable Business Alliance. In November, Metro Silicon Valley newspaper brought the Shop Local crusade to Silicon Valley, urging readers to pledge their holiday dollars to local businesses. The response was tremendous, demonstrating that South Bay residents care about the independent businesses that make their communities unique. Shopping local is both a quality-of-life issue and an economic one. Studies show that money spent at independently owned businesses multiplies as it circulates through the community. Each dollar spent at a locally owned restaurant, boutique or grocery store is worth $1.68, according to the Business Alliance for Local Living, BALLE, an group of organizations dedicated to supporting independently owned businesses. This web page is dedicated to supporting local businesses of all types, whether an independently owned boutique, a local restaurant, a mom-and-pop store or a larger company seeking to promote local products and talent. In these pages, we examine trend leaders in independent business—a salon owner concerned enough about the environmental impact of her work to pioneer the “greening” of her industry, a restaurateur whose family has been serving Silicon Valley since the 1930s, a skate shop born out of a casual comment one parent made to a skater at a local park. We also take a look at some of “the best of the best”—the winners chosen by readers of Metro Silicon Valley as their favorite places to shop local in a variety of categories. It may be more important than ever in these times to support these businesses. “Shop Local” is an idea whose time has come. by Staff on Feb 12, 2009 |
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