A recent national survey revealed independent retail businesses are outperforming many chains, and the Shop Local movement is a big factor.
Holiday sales for the indies surveyed declined an average of 5% from the previous year. The number compares favorably to most competing chains, whose declines ranged from -7.7% to -24.2%.
The survey was conducted by the Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR) and other independent business organizations.
"Many people are choosing to direct more of their spending to local businesses," said Stacy Mitchell, senior researcher with ILSR. "Study after study has concluded that locally owned businesses deliver more jobs and significantly greater economic benefits to their communities."
Indies in cities with active Shop Local campaigns did even better: their average drop in sales was 3.2%, compared to 5.6% decline in cities without local initiatives. 95% of the retailers said that being locally owned matters to their customers.
Read more about the survey here.