Shop Locally

This is pretty nifty...on the heels of the increasingly popular 'Eat Lafayette' campaign, some local business owners have now formed their own group. "Shop Local Acadiana" has just kicked off their advertising campaign to encourage people to spend their money with locally owned businesses instead of national retail chains. They say that when we do, 3 times more of our money stays right here in our local economy for local businesses to hire, invest and contribute more.

Shop Local Acadiana also has a really nice website. On it, shoppers can sign up for 'Local Finds' email specials and text messages and see a directory of participating businesses. Each business also has it's own page on the site so you can learn more, see photos and get links to their websites or facebook pages. Merchants can easily learn the benefits of participating and find out how to join. The concept is pretty simple - business owners pool their money and together they can afford an impactful advertising and promotional campaign.

I say Bravo Gina Girouard Babineaux and Shannon Broussard Lynd. Check out their Facebook page here.