A while back we shared a lot about our CEO Chase Michaels being a speaker at TedX Greenville. Well, today, we get to share the video of Chase speaking at the event.
You can click on it here.
We are like totally biased and stuff, but we think Chase hit out of the park when it comes to explaining why it is so important to buy local. And that is what Locally Epic is all about.
Some weeks are just busy. This is one of them. We will be joining the folks at the Rotary Club of Greenville Evening and Councilmember Jil Littlejohn at the Topside Pool Club Wednesday to announced the 2018 Reedy River Duck Derby. You can adopt a duck here.
And then on Thursday night, we…ok…our CEO Chase…will be at the Peace Center to talk about why shopping local matters as part of TedX Greenville.
But wait, there’s more on the docket. We will be at the Greenville Swamp Rabbits game on Thursday for the finals of the Million Dollar Slap Shot contest.
Have fun. We are!
The Upstate has seen tremendous population growth in the past decade. About 70,000 new people have moved to Greenville, Anderson and Spartanburg counties in the past seven years alone. These are people who have come for work and to enjoy the lifestyle here. They have added to our culture, but what have we shown them? They are getting heaping helpings of great Clemson football teams, a foodie boom, highway construction and amazingly unique downtowns. But are they really learning what the Upstate is? Are they enjoying the things that many of us know, but take for granted? And we are not talking about things that are no longer here. We are talking about the things that make our little slice of the world so very genuine. With that in mind, we at Locally Epic (with the always-wonderful aid of social media) have come up with a Top 10 list of things that anyone in our region has to do at least once to say they really live here. These are the things only an insider would know about and attempt over time. This is not a weekend fun list. This is the Upstate.
Anyway, welcome to the Upstate. You have your homework. Get to it.
A lot of people make New Year’s Resolutions. There’s a good chance you made one. Or many. There is a good chance you’ve already broken them.
But we at Locally Epic want you to consider one more resolution that if you keep, can change the face of the local economy.
We want you to buy local. Go to the homegrown store for hardware. Buy a painting from a local artist. Buy a shirt at the local store and not online. We are not asking you to spend more money. Just take what you are spending now online and go to a locally owned shop. If Upstate consumers pivot $20 a week away for a year from online or a big box store to a locally owned store that would in increase the local Upstate economy by $300 million.
How is that possible?
For every dollar you spend in a Greenville-based business, 75 cents stays right here in Greenville. Even if you’re shopping at a Woodruff Road big box (and we all do, right?), 35 cents of every buck you spend stays local. In either case, that’s cash that flows through local employees, managers and owners and into other local businesses such as grocery stores and gas stations.
Compare that scenario to this: For every dollar you spend with non-local online businesses, only one cent remains in the local economy. One penny, vs. the 99 that won’t stay here. So in the bigger picture, what’s your buck worth online vs. locally – what’s it worth to you?
But let’s take that resolution to spend local a little further. What if you chose one day a month to do nothing, but purchase locally. Imagine that. Imagine the change you could make. And that is our Locally Epic challenge to you.
Every fourth Saturday of the month, just go and buy local. Now, you may be saying “that’s nice, but I getter deals online or at the big box store.” That is where the Locally Epic app comes into play. Every day, more than 35,000 users in Greenville are finding deals and promotions from local businesses. These are real savings done in real-time via Locally Epic.
We are calling it Locally Epic Saturday, and you will be hearing a lot about it. The ideas it to take the concept of Small Business Saturday, which everyone does in December, and spread it throughout the year. We are creating value.
And value takes us back to those concepts of quality of life, being fortunate enough to live in the Greenville area, and that buck that I hope is still burning a hole in your pocket. It’s your buck, and it’s your choice, but before you spend it, I do hope you’ll consider that every dollar you spend represents your opportunity to have a positive economic impact on our region and the Greenville lifestyle we’ve come to enjoy and, yes — value.
We want to thank everyone in Greenville who downloaded the app in the past year (more than 30,000 of you!), all of who have offered a promo on the app (more than 100 of you) and all of other supporters in 2017.
It’s been one Locally Epic year.
As we look forward to an amazing 2018, we have some really cool things brewing coming from Locally Epic including a pet contest, a fun event to go along with the Duck Derby in May, the return of the Epic Quest this fall, a shop local initiative, numerous more chances to win $1 million at a Furman basketball game or Greenville Swamp Rabbits game and many more surprises.
We look forward to sharing them all with you.
GSA Business’ Book of Experts did a full-page article on Locally Epic this week. Story isn’t online, but here is the story below:
A key thing to pull from the story:
There’s no denying the convenience of the internet – it is, after all, in your phone, and your phone’s in your pocket or purse (or more likely, your hand) right now. But about that buck: For every dollar you spend in a Greenville business, a whopping 75 cents stays right here in Greenville. Even if you’re shopping at a Woodruff Road big box (and we all do, right?), 35 cents of every buck you spend stays local. In either case, that’s cash that flows through local employees, managers and owners and into other local businesses like grocery stores and gas stations. It buys cars from local dealerships. It buys homes constructed by local builders. It is our economic life blood. If Upstate consumers pivot $20 a week away for a year from online or a big box store to a locally owned store that would in increase the local Upstate economy by $300 million.
Did you do any shopping this weekend? Was it local? Check out this story from GSA Business Report where our very own Chase Michaels was talked to about the importance of shopping locally. Remember this as you continue to shop.
Also, story is not online, which is why we are going way old school with this photo clip!
Locally Epic loves helping you find everything “epic” about the Greenville area. And with that in mind, here are five ways you can be “locally epic” this Thanksgiving weekend.
GREENVILLE, S.C. – Locally Epic will serve as the official app of the East Coast’s premier European car show, the Euro Auto Show, returning to Greenville this October.
The festival, now in its 22nd year, will take place on October 20 and 21 at the Preserve at Verdae, located off Verdae Boulevard in Greenville. The two-day event includes a craft beer tour of Greenville, automotive technology sessions, a full day car show attracting over 400 European cars, and an automotive film festival. This year’s attendees will be able to find more information on the Locally Epic app.
Locally Epic is an app that allows local consumers via a mobile platform to enhance their ability to find local offers and promotions from a wide range of businesses in real time, while allowing businesses to effectively reach new audiences. The app can be downloaded here or found on Itunes or GooglePlay.
Interested attendees can also purchase tickets for Saturday’s events here. General admission tickets can be prepurchased for $10 or purchased the day of for $15.
“European automobiles and the industries that support them are a crucial part of this area’s economy,” said Chase Michaels, the company’s founder. “It doesn’t get more Locally Epic than the impact of European cars on the Upstate.”
About Locally Epic:
Locally Epic is the next generation of real-time location-based marketing technology for businesses and consumers. Locally Epic leverages time, space and message deployment with real-time aspects of engagement, implementation, customer loyalty and consumer acquisition metrics. Learn more at www.locallyepic.com.