Shop Local Delmarva

Thank you for visiting Shop Local Delmarva, your one stop directory for our locally owned and operated businesses on Delmarva.                        

Getting started

If this is your first visit to Shop Local Delmarva, you may be wondering excatly why we all should look locally for the goods and services we need before turning to a nationally owned chain.  Please read
The Benefits of Doing Business Locally by The American Independent Business Alliance, reprinted here with permission.  The article explains in easy-to-understand language why every community should look to their locally owned and operated businesses first before deciding to use the services of a nationally owned chain.

The next hard part is finding your truly locally owned and operated businesses.  Shop Local Delmarva strives to verify that all businesses listed meet the criteria of a locally owned and operated business.  If you believe a listed business does not meet the criteria, please email us with the reason you believe the business is listed in error.

If you are a business owner and meet the criteria of a locally owned and operated business, you can get listed for free!  Please visit our Get Listed link for details.

Finding a locally owned business

Finding a locally owned and operated business is easy.  On the left side of this page, click on the county where you live or are visiting.  A list of all businesses headquartered in that county will appear.  You will be able to further refine your search by business type from there.

Many of our locally owned and operated businesses serve more than one county.  In addition to searching the businesses located in your county, you will also be able to view the locally owned and operated businesses that serve your county even though they are headquartered in another county.

Another very useful tool can be found on the right side of the page.  Click on the Advanced Search link and choose all the search criteria you want.  Advance search will allow you to search more than one business category or county at a time.  Simply hold the Ctrl key down to select more than one category.

Don't forget the deals, sales, and coupons!

On the right side of the page, you will see all sorts of specials and coupons.  Take advantage of them!  Too many listed and afraid you may have missed something?  Don't worry.  When you click on a listing, all of their deals, sales, and coupons that that particular business is offering will be listed for your easy reference. 

Still afraid you might miss out on something?  Sign up for our semi-monthly newsletter.  The newsletter will keep you in touch with our locally owned and operated businesses, and, of course, offer you exclusive savings for shopping local.

Last but not least...

Be sure to tell your local business you saw them on Shop Local Delmarva. 

Let's shop local!  On the left, click on the state you are in or visiting, and then select the county you're in.  It's that easy!

                             
Hi, I'm Cuddles, your guide.  Keep an eye on me for useful tidbits of information

A message from the owner/founder of Shop Local Delmarva

While attending a few business functions here in Dorchester County, I noticed a common theme among our planners, leaders, and politicians - we need to attract big business.  While the sound of bringing in big business to create more jobs sounded good, intuitively, I felt Dorchester County would pay a huge price, the price being the loss of their unique rural identity.

I conducted some research on the impact of locally owned businesses versus nationally owned businesses on the local economy.  The more I read, the more I became convinced that while nationally owned chains have their place in any community, they should not be the cornerstone of any economic development plan.  The price we, as individual communities, will pay is too great.

Let's take a hypothetical example of the impact one nationally owned chain has on the local economy.  Home Depot decides to move in.  Typically, Home Depot will be attached to a shopping plaza with several other stores.  Home Depot, in general, does not stand alone.  Home Depot moves in with associated attached stores, and a sizable chunk of farmland or woods are gone forever.

Home Depot promises 200 new jobs, which looks good on any politicians résumé, but have they really brought 200 new jobs? 

The construction of the new Home Depot is typically done by approved vendors from outside of the community, as is the maintence of the store once it is built and the upkeep of all the powered equipment used inside the store (forklifts, computers, cash registers).

Outside vendors also stock the store.  What you find in a Home Depot on Delmarva is exactly what you will find in a Home Depot in Los Angeles.  You won't find any niche market items at Home Depot that residents of Delmarva might want such as plants that can grow in wet, clay soils or home decorations that are uniquely Delmarva orientated.

Out of the 200 new jobs created, subtract the loss of jobs as a result of locally owned businesses shutting down, such as a greenhouse, home improvement store, home appliance store, local hardware store, local electrical and plumbing store, or a home fashion or lighting store. 

And let's not forget those outside vendors who came to build the Home Depot, maintain it, and fix all the equipment inside.  They now have a foothold in the community and begin expanding their customer base.  Not immediately, but a couple of years after Home Depot open, those vendors slowly edge out the locally owned maintence shops and computer repair technicians.

The construction company that built Home Depot will build the other stores in the plaza alongside of Home Depot and start planning the building of the communities around the shopping district.  Slowly, our locally owned construction companies will be edged out of the market simply because they weren't on the nationally owned stores' approval list.

Then there's the loss of the farmland and woods.  Farmhands are out of a job because there is no farm to maintain.  Perhaps a sizable tract of good hunting woods is gone and nearby, locally owned bed and breakfast housing for the hunters is gone.

All totaled, maybe after five years, Home Depot brought a net job gain of 20, maybe 25, new jobs.  Is that an acceptable price for any rural community to pay for a handful of new jobs?

Shop local, Delmarva!  Our locally owned and operated businesses are what keeps our communities unique and help preserve our unique rural identity.  And encourage your business leaders and elected officials to shop local and look for local answers for our future growth before deciding to go national.

 -Mark Darien, owner/founder Shop Local Delmarva based in Bishops Head, Dorchester County, MD