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Going Local is Easy on Cyber Monday!

Happy Buy Local Week! We hope that you've been having a blast supporting your community. We wanted to take today to discuss Cyber Monday. Did you know that there are countless ways to still positively impact your local economy, even when it comes to shopping online? Here are some great tips:

• Some online companies are based locally.
• Many of your favorite retailers also have online stores.
• Search larger sites for local retailers. For example, you can find local merchants on amazon.com. Etsy has a local search feature as well.

The following are local companies that have a web presence. And don't forget that purchases made with these businesses are eligible for Buy Local Bingo! So buy locally (even online!) and get the chance to win big prizes. Happy online shopping!

Lori Webster has been feeling the love recently. Small business love, that is. She's been telling the customers of her family-owned stationery store about the 3/50 Project, one of many campaigns to support local small businesses.

Then last week, Tom Hanks walked into Webster's Fine Stationers in Altadena, Calif.—about 20 miles from Hollywood. Celebrities aren't unheard-of in the store: The actor John C. Reilly lives in the neighborhood and drops by occasionally.

But Hanks, who was filming on location across the street, went out of his way to talk up small business. "He told us how nice it is to shop at a family-owned business and how he particularly liked family-owned stationery stores," Webster says. Along with extolling the virtues of small business, and disparaging their big-box competitors, Hanks asked about Webster's history, posed for pictures, lamented the closing of the family's card store nearby, and bought $120 worth of pens, notebooks, and puzzle books.