As we all continue to get settled in quarantine life at home, I can’t help but think about all my fellow small business owners out there who have been so negatively affected by the coronavirus pandemic. Whether your city is on lockdown or not, most small businesses have had to shut their doors or severely limit their services and offerings, which has been a massive hit for many. With lots of uncertainty right now in the economy, with work, events, etc. of course, it’s important we do take this time to practice social distancing, but also to continue supporting our local businesses, if you’re able to.
HOW CAN YOU HELP?
You might feel like you can’t do a lot from your couch at this time… but you can! Think about it, how often were you going out to eat at your favorite restaurant down the street? Or stop by your local flower shop or boutique to pick something up for your home? Now is the time to reach out to those places or follow their social channels to see how exactly you can help, whether that’s purchasing a gift card now for the future when they are able to reopen, order takeout/pickup, see if they’ve started any crowd sourcing pages like GoFundMe, leaving positive reviews/sharing their page on Yelp for restaurants, photographers, videographers, etc. Those are just a few options I’ve seen for some businesses recently, but again, there are so many ways to help during this time from the comfort of your home!
To get the wheels moving, I’ve listed some AMAZING small businesses that I know would absolutely love your support right now! If you know of one please leave it in the comments so others can see it 🙂 If we can all come together and work to support those that are struggling right now I know we’ll come out on the other side of this stronger than ever!! p.s. this includes hitting your local supermarket vs. the big retailer!
FOOD:
Before I list some favorites, most of you may know I’m co-owner of Toast Society, a healthy café in Las Vegas. Unfortunately, we recently had to lay off all of our employees following the 30-day non-essential business closure in Nevada. It’s really been a tough change for us and a major hit of course to our employees. Thankfully, we’re still able to serve takeout/pickup via Postmates and through our website here. Our other two owners have been at the store non-stop throughout the day making sure everything goes out– they’re seriously crushing it and haven’t had a day off since this has happened. Shout out to all other business owners making it happen!! We’ve also included a link on our social pages to purchase and/or send gift cards to a friend or family member. You can do that here. If you’re out of state, but looking for ways to support, we also created a GoFundMe page to raise in order to get our staff back to work, assist in paying our rent and utilities as well as other operating costs we have to maintain our business (as there are no structural damages to the building, our business insurances are not covering nor accepting any claims). We appreciate your support through this and know we can come out on the other side through all of this!
– Meet the Source: the BEST raw treats/balls/cinnamon rolls you’ll ever have in your life!! They’re amazing and all gluten-free, refined sugar free, dairy-free
– Frankie & Jo’s plant-based ice cream
– AWG Bakery: gluten-free, sprouted, allergen-friendly bread!!! It’s so good, she ships from CA
– Buy Ranch Direct: CA grass-fed/finished meats. They ship nationwide
– Evolved Eating: my all-time fave dairy-free chocolate!! I use their Signature Dark chocolate bars in most of my baking and Bridger is hooked on their custom bars.
SMALL SHOPS/ONLINE STORES:
– The Little Market: fair-trade home decor. Have someone who’s affected by this pandemic? Someone who’s working on the front-lines? They have the best gift ideas!!
– Shop Tan Lines: swim & athletic wear
– Carbon38: my go-to for anything athletic / workout wear
– Cocokind: great, affordable skincare based in San Francisco
– Nutraorganics: health & wellness website, sells my favorite protein powder! The Clean Vanilla + Chocolate vegan protein
– Vitamin A swim: one of my favorite swimwear brands
– Taylor Wolfe Shop: If you like a good graphic tee and cozy sweatshirts, you’re going to love this shop! This sweatshirt is so cute!
– Nadine Stay: such cute and minimalist/boho-y home decor items. Plus, the girl who runs it also has a really great interior design blog, which is also on the shop’s website so check it out!
– Mejuri: gorgeous jewelry. I bought my wedding earrings from here!
– Five and Two Jewelry: I recently bought their Jagger necklace and I’m in love!
– H. Hazel: I’m hooked on their collagen eye gels. Great for depuffing, brightening, etc.
Another good one is a small business called Parker Clay. They make ethically sourced handmade leather goods in Ethiopia. (Purses, backpacks, wallets, belts, dog leashes, luggage etc) They employ Ethiopian women to keep them out of sex trafficking. They have over 250 employees in Ethiopia that they are trying really hard to continue to support during this pandemic. They are doing a super cool initiative to try and raise funds quickly. You can check them out at http://www.Parkerclay.com
Thank you so much for including Nadine Stay in your post Rachael!! So kind of you to highlight these incredible businesses!