Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

Local shops get the love

Staff Report //December 7, 2018//

Local shops get the love

Staff Report //December 7, 2018//

Listen to this article

You have 17 shopping days left until Christmas. You also have eight shopping days left in Buy Local Month. Coincidence? We have no idea. But it aligns nicely either way.

Small Business Saturday — somewhat ironically the brain child of credit card behemoth American Express — gets a lot of attention nationally as the day to “Buy local!” But the Lowcountry has decided it so important to support the moms and the pops that we dedicate an entire month to focusing our dollars on them.

That effort (and other yearlong efforts) has landed Charleston the No. 10 spot on the Top 20 Cities to Shop Local in 2018, as decided by Yelp from a survey conducted by The Harris Poll.

The survey highlights several “top local shops,” most of which are clothing and accessories shops.

Shoppers this year plan to spend about 62% more at local, independent businesses than last year, according to Yelp. Their figure is $63 billion. You can spend your share of that total this weekend at the Buy Local Block Party. It runs from noon to 6 p.m. Saturday at Tradesman Brewing Co.

Laguna Beach, Calif., Asheville, N.C., and Lahaina, Hawaii, were the top three cities. We’re not sure what makes them more locally focused, whether they’ve taken measures to stay that way or whether that’s just their natural vibe. Check out Monday’s print edition of the Business Journal for a story about Folly Beach’s effort to “stay funky” with independent businesses. (If you’re not getting the print edition, remedy that here.)

Check out the top 20 map online, and look below for some spending stats.

 src=

<