About Us

With the beauty of the Blue Ridge Mountains as a backdrop and the rolling hills of the Virginia Piedmont before it, Charlottesville and the Albemarle County community is truly one of the Best Places To Live in the US. The area’s roots are deep in history with Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello, the University of Virginia and Shenandoah National Park’s Skyline Drive among the more well-known landmarks. But what makes our community unique is the active partnership between the residents and the approximately 10,000 locally owned businesses providing goods and services to the greater Charlottesville and Albemarle community.

Shop Locally – Support Your Community

Shopping locally has always been an integral part of life in our community. Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of Independence, had several locally owned businesses serving the greater Charlottesville and Albemarle County area. In recent years, more and more locally owned businesses have faced increased competition from non-locally owned businesses and online retailers. ShopCharlottesville.com is an online marketplace dedicated to local businesses in the greater Charlottesville and Albemarle County, Virginia community. Our goal is to make it fast, fun and easy for you to find the products and services you need from trusted local businesses, whether they're retailers, service providers or professionals. The small merchants that participate on this site are working hard to earn your business and are reaching out to you to make it easy to support them. Before you spend your hard-earned money with a one-size-fits-all big box store, consider the little guy in your community that could offer you better value and customer service - and give them a chance to earn your business.

Did You Know?

Small businesses are the heart of our economy and continue to drive the 'real economy'.

Here are some statistics about small business you may or may not know:

·       They employ just over half of the country’s private sector workforce

·       Just two percent of small businesses are franchises

·       Generate a majority of the innovations that come from United States companies

Source: U.S. Small Business Administration Office of Advocacy, September 2009

What You Can Do

There are several ways you can help us build our community and support local businesses:

·       Use ShopCharlottesville.com as often as possible to learn what's available locally

·       Make informed purchases and consider the total impact of your spending, not just the price

·       Encourage great local business owners by posting reviews on their profile pages

·       Buy our local gift certificates instead of plastic gift cards from big box stores

·       Frequent locally-owned restaurants instead of the national chains

We can always use help spreading the word, and we greatly appreciate those who help convey the message by putting up signs and stickers or linking to us online.

Click here to request free stickers or a badge for your website

Thanks for taking the time to read about ShopCharlottesville.com. We are passionate about Charlottesville and Albemarle County and love to connect with like-minded individuals and are always open to partnership opportunities, to contact us directly use the contact form found here.

Feel free to use the comment section below to let us know about things you're doing to spread the word about shopping locally or to make Charlottesville and Albemarle County a stronger, more vibrant community.