San Francisco is fortunate to have a vibrant community of locally owned businesses. Every category of big box stores has an independent counterpart specializing in books, fashion, hardware, shoes – you name it, and there is a small, locally owned retailer selling it. Besides giving our neighborhoods character, shopping at your neighborhood businesses also helps support your community. We are extremely lucky to have so many shopping districts in our city, each with their own uniqueness and flair.

When you shop locally you:

• Keep dollars in the community: Spending your money at a local business reinvests that money back into your community. A study by the San Francisco Loc-ally Owned Merchant Alliance (SFLOMA) shows that for every $100 you spend at a locally owned business, $68 will stay in the community. Spend that same $100 at a chain store with a corporate office out of state and only $43 stays in the community.

• Embrace what makes us unique: A chain store in San Francisco is the same store in Dallas or Denver. Independent retailers are unique in their product offerings and don’t follow a cookie cutter approach.

• Create local jobs: Local businesses employ local talent – your neighbors and friends. By supporting the local businesses in your neighborhood, you assure that jobs stay here in our community.

• Help the environment: Keep the car parked and walk to your local business district. You’ll save gas and lower your carbon footprint. Not to mention the traffic and lines that you won’t have to deal with!

• Nurture community: Local businesses tend to donate to community causes at more than twice the rate of chain stores. Who cares more about your community than the local residents who live and work right here?

• Create more choice: Locally owned businesses listen to their clientele and offer goods and services that their customers want them to stock. You’ll find a more unique product assortment than in a chain store where products offered are dictated by a corporate office located more often than not out of state.

• Conserve tax dollars: Shopping at a retailer outside of San Francisco gives your tax dollars to that city. When tax dollars are collected in our community, they stay here to be reinvested back into our community on infrastructure and beautification.

• Take advantage of expertise: An independent retailer is most likely an expert in whatever service or goods they are providing for you. Local retailers specialize in what they are offering and are more than happy to share that knowledge.

• Invest in entrepreneurship: The Amer- ican economy is founded upon creativity and entrepreneurship. Supporting your local businesses ensures a strong community. An empty storefront is a blight on a business district that no one wants to see or wants as a part of their neighborhood.

• Make your local business district a destination: Everyone in the community benefits by a vibrant business district. How convenient is it if you can walk to do your shopping, pick up your dry cleaning, grab a cup of coffee, and have lunch – all without having to get into your car? And a vibrant shopping district is more likely to attract visitors from outside the community.

So consider the impact your shopping can make this holiday season, and keep it close to home.