County’s Latest Initiative Gives Shoppers Added Value While Supporting Businesses in Impacted Areas
The Los Angeles County Department of Economic Opportunity has launched a new incentive program designed to steer holiday spending toward small businesses still recovering from recent wildfires. The Shop Local LA County Gift Card Program is part of the county’s broader Shop Local. Dine Local. Recover Local. campaign, offers consumers bonus gift cards when they purchase digital cards redeemable at verified fire-impacted businesses.
Under the initiative, shoppers can visit shoplocal. la to buy $20, $50, or $100 gift cards and receive bonus cards valued at $10, $25, or $50. Both the purchased and bonus cards can be used only at businesses listed in the county’s Recover Local Business Directory, which features brick-and-mortar food, retail, and service operators affected by the Eaton and Palisades fires. Corporations are also encouraged to purchase cards, without bonus incentives, as employee gifts or year-round support for local businesses.
To be listed in the Recover Local Business Directory, businesses must have fewer than 100 employees, meet program eligibility requirements, and be located in designated fire-impacted areas such as Altadena, Palisades, Topanga, North Pasadena, Malibu, and West Santa Monica. Eligible owners can apply by completing a short online form at bit.ly/ShopLocalBizForm or by visiting shoplocal.la. Qualified businesses will receive instructions on how to participate in the gift card program, along with marketing materials, technical assistance, and invitations to future Shop Local events.
The gift card program is supported through a public-private partnership with Yiftee and Southern California Grantmakers, bolstered by a $100,000 contribution from L.A. Care. The initiative expands on a motion introduced by Supervisor Kathryn Barger earlier this year aimed at stabilizing Altadena’s brick-and-mortar businesses, many of which lost storefronts or continue to struggle with reduced foot traffic following the fires. It also builds on the original 2023 Shop Local LA County campaign launched during the pandemic to help small businesses recover from COVID-19 disruptions.
Since the fire-focused campaign began in July, the county has enrolled affected businesses into the directory, installed 23 Recover Local billboards and posters with Clear Channel, and added hundreds of new pledges from residents committing to shop locally. More than 35,000 people have signed the county’s Shop Local pledge, and over $30,000 in sweepstakes prizes have been awarded since the program began.
