Chicago Online Retailers Launch Buy Local Shopping Initiative "Buy Chi Friday" This Friday, December 13th

CHICAGO, Dec. 12, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Online shopping is expected to grow 50% over the next five years. And why not? With all the traffic, crowds and inconvenience, online shopping takes a lot of the hassle out of shopping, and the deals online are every bit as good as they are at the stores.

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To promote "shop local" online shopping with Chicago retailers, a group of Chicago's top brands including Walter E. Smithe, Vienna Beef, Vosges Chocolates, H2O Plus, Sausages by AmyLu, Winestyr.com, Uncle Dougie's Sauces and Moolagram.com, a Chicago-based mobile app company that builds and activates fan bases for its business customers, and five of its retail customers (Click Shoes and More, Luxury Garage Sale, Accessory Mercado, Arch Apothecary and Lucila's Homemade) have banded together for the BUYCHI effort. All officially participating brands are listed for easy access at the website buychifriday.com, and social media efforts will carry the hashtag #BuyChiFriday.

"This is a great idea to promote shopping local," said Tim Condon, CEO of Uncle Dougie's, which ships high-end BBQ Sauces, Marinades, Rubs and Bloody Mary Mixes all over the world. "But where online shopping really has a decided advantage is for buying gifts for out of town family and friends. To be able to buy and send a thoughtful gift to relatives and friends no matter where they're at in the U.S. is truly an incredible advantage of the technology."

This is the first year of the effort, but Condon says that it will be the start of an annual program to raise the visibility of local Chicago online companies as Chicagoans' first choice for their Holiday gift purchasing. "Buying local is good for everyone," says Condon. "It means employment, tax revenue and cash staying in our community vs. going out of town—and we can all get behind that."

SOURCE BUYCHI Friday