Twin Cities · Volume 1
A growing list of the local businesses our neighbors would fight to keep.
"I watched a family shop on my block close after nineteen years. Not because the owners quit. Because nobody knew they were there. Two blocks away, a warehouse the size of an airport was shipping the same thing overnight, and the only difference was that one of them had a marketing budget and the other had a hand-lettered sign in the window.
That's not competition. That's a visibility problem. And it's the one thing I actually know how to fix."
— Christina Tran, Founder
Every dollar has somewhere to go. Most of them go to companies that will never know your name, never sponsor your kid's team, and never notice if you stop.
This is a crowd-sourced list of the other ones. The shop owner who stayed late. The mechanic who told you it wasn't worth fixing. The bakery that remembers your order.
Not a review site. Not a coupon app. A list of the places our neighbors would genuinely miss — nominated by the people who'd miss them. Every customer who chooses local is casting a vote. This is where those votes are counted.
How it works
It takes about ninety seconds. Name the business, name your town, and tell us one thing they did that a big box store never would.
Every submission is read by a human before it goes live. No paid placements. No sponsored spots. No ranking you can buy. If a business is on this list, it's because someone stood up for it.
Who this helps
Anyone who has caught themselves opening an app out of habit when the thing they wanted was four blocks away.
It started with the small business owners we work with — bakers, mechanics, barbers, makers, shopkeepers, and trades — people running real companies that are extraordinary at their craft and invisible online. But it belongs to the people who love them.
The list grows every day. Check back and see who's near you.