The term “shop local” can be found in most places these days – social media campaigns, posters in grocery stores, local banks, and even your credit card companies are pushing you toward localizing your money. But without an understanding of the impacts that occur when you choose to spend your money in your own community rather than with a large corporation, “shop local” can sound more passive than it truly is.

“Choosing to shop small — instead of at big box stores or online — guarantees that the gifts you give ensure our small businesses can continue to thrive,”  SLO’s incoming Chamber of Commerce President and CEO, Garret Olson said via email. “This is one of the best ways you can invest in the community you love.”

Shopping locally doesn’t have to mean completely walling off the outside world, or cancelling your Amazon membership altogether. Small changes in your shopping habits have the power to cause major ripples not only in your own community, but also for the environment.

According to Optoro, a logistics company that specializes in merchandise, returned or unused inventory creates 5.8 billion pounds of waste each year in the U.S.

For San Luis Obispo business SLOcally Made’s owners, Sadie Moss and Kerry Long, statistics like these only help to deepen their business values of creating a shop that is centered on quality, sustainability, and uplifting local artists.

Moss and Long started SLOcally Made in 2017 after realizing they were craving a one-stop shop after years of following the holiday maker’s market circuit for artists, which requires extensive travel and energy to maintain.

They were able to pull together the first pop-up of SLOcally Made in a few weeks after being offered to use the old Muzio’s space on Monterey Street by the San Luis Obispo Collection. The first pop-up featured over 15 local artists and had a line out the door, with many items completely selling out on opening day. 

Since then, their mission has only deepened. 

“We’re magnets for who we are. The more clear you become on who you are and what you’re trying to bring to life, the right people will find you, and that’s what has happened here with our makers and the community,” Moss said. “For Kerry and I, we’re just creating a world we want to live in. A shop we would want to shop at.”

SLOcally Made has an extensive curation process, with major emphasis going into quality for the products and artists they choose to feature in their shop.

“We want to get people into that mindset that they can buy just one thing, like that perfect thing for somebody, rather than many, many things that may go unused or get returned,” said Moss. 

According to a consumer return report by Apprisse Retail, Americans returned $685 billion in products in 2024, with the majority coming from online stores. 

“I completely get the convenience these days,” Long said. It’s so easy to click, ship, and receive the next day, but what I challenge people to ask themselves is, ‘what longevity does that piece or thing have in your household?’ It usually ends up in the trash.”

“Everything that I’ve purchased at SLOcally Made over the years I still have. And if something breaks, I reach out to the artists to see if they can repair it instead of throwing it away,” Long said.”I think that’s the power of buying handmade things, and especially if it’s an artist in your community, having a tie to that person makes it mean so much more. It becomes not just a thing.”

Long and Moss both admitted that there is some irony involved in owning a business that capitalizes on a season where people buy things, while they are working to encourage people to buy less.  

“We are very aware of what we are creating, and try to think about it like this: people are going to consume during this season, so how can we help reframe that or just help people consume in a more localized way?” Moss said. 

SLOcally Made is a part of the Buy Local Bonus program, which rewards shoppers with a $25 gift card to a local business for every $100 they’ve spent at local retailers in the City of SLO. The program is in its sixth consecutive year and is run by the SLO Chamber and the City of San Luis Obispo.

“A thriving local business economy relies on our community showing up and being intentional about where they spend money. Every time you shop locally, you invest in keeping San Luis Obispo such a special place and experience,” Chamber of Commerce Incoming President Garret Olson said.

SLOcally Made is open seven days a week until Dec. 24, when the doors will be closed again until next Nov. The shop is located at 877 Monterey Street in the old Beverly’s building.