Shopping Local is More Than Just A Feel-Good Thing.

When you put your dollars where your home is, you’re making a much bigger difference than you might think.

(Pictured: Wynwood Alley Artisan Market, our weekly street marketplace and shopping experience featuring local artists, brands and designers.)

Here’s how:

You boost your local economy – and help the environment.

When your money stays local, it does a lot of people a lot of good. Your purchasing power actually creates new jobs. It’s true. The more local employers exist, the more employees are needed. People with jobs means more people that can also shop locally.

“By not being mass produced, I am able to give my customers truly unique pieces with much greater value, at lower prices.”

Many local businesses also use local resources – meaning they’re also shopping locally. This is great because when goods and materials don’t have to travel extensively, packaging and transportation fees are reduced or eliminated. These savings allow them to keep the cost of their products lower for us.

Marcela López – one of our favorite jewelry designers – says, “By not being mass produced, I am able to give my customers truly unique pieces with much greater value, at lower prices.” 

Cutting down on transportation means reducing excess pollution too. And another positive effect on our surroundings comes from local sales tax, which goes back into the community, meaning nicer roads, shared spaces, and more resources for our safety, security, health and fun.

You get better, more personal customer service and thoughtfully-made products.

When you purchase from local merchants, you’ll often get the rare opportunity to connect with the people that created those things you like.

And when you get to know them – understanding their motivations and challenges – and they get to know you too, a simple business transaction becomes a much richer personal relationship. You’re not just a faceless consumer of their product, but a real participant in their personal success – and in all the lives they also touch through their work.

Take Aida Sabina of Trinkets for D, for example. Founder of a Miami-based bohemian and tribal accessories line, she calls her business “a journey in love, healing and awareness” – created out of necessity as a mother of a child with autism. When asked why she believes that supporting local is important, Aida says, “You’re not only helping your own community thrive, you’re also being compassionate because you’re helping individuals and their families get by – and flourish.”

You help kickstart small, local brands – and give rise to more talent and culture.

When you shop local for authentic, made-in-Miami (or any other city’s) fashion, art and goods, you’re directly investing in someone. But even more fascinating is that your support has an unseen inspirational domino effect – one that is extremely powerful. When you shop local, you’re also indirectly inspiring countless others to bring forth their contributions and creations.

Creations that might be the next big innovation, launch great causes or shape the next big movement. Movements like the one that lead to little ol’ Wynwood evolving from a destitute no-man’s-land, to a full-blown touristic destination that’s put Miami on the map as one of the greatest street art meccas in the world. Think about that!