While many shoppers use Amazon to buy anything for anyone, there’s a better way to easily search for, shop at, and support small businesses in your own backyard online.
The website MainStreetWI.com is a hub for more than 650 Wisconsin-based, independent businesses and counting. Started in 2020, the site is an example of a pandemic pivot that quickly became popular, and eventually, permanent.
On it, you’ll find locally-owned small businesses that sell everything from fine art and furniture to specialty foods, wine, clothes, books, and games. Users can filter results by:
- Community (where they’re located)
- Category (what they sell)
- Ordering Options (curbside pickup v. delivery/shipping)
- Ownership (BIPOC, woman-owned, etc.)
MainstreetWI.com has added more than 250 businesses to its database in just the past year and continues to expand. Anyone can submit an independently-owned, Wisconsin-based business.
Click here to submit a store today!
The website was spearheaded by the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation as a way to keep small businesses afloat during the pandemic. Thanks to the site, and Gov. Tony Evers’ leadership, it’s working! Wisconsin ranks first in the country in aid allocated to small businesses and second for aid directed to economic development. Evers has invested $1 billion and counting in Badger State small businesses since 2020.
RELATED: One-on-One with Governor Tony Evers
Author
Support Our Cause
Thank you for taking the time to read our work. Before you go, we hope you'll consider supporting our values-driven journalism, which has always strived to make clear what's really at stake for Wisconsinites and our future.
Since day one, our goal here at UpNorthNews has always been to empower people across the state with fact-based news and information. We believe that when people are armed with knowledge about what's happening in their local, state, and federal governments—including who is working on their behalf and who is actively trying to block efforts aimed at improving the daily lives of Wisconsin families—they will be inspired to become civically engaged.
New Biden rules deliver automatic cash refunds for canceled flights, ban surprise fees
In the aftermath of a canceled or delayed flight, there’s nothing less appealing than spending hours on the phone waiting to speak with an airline...
One year on the Wienermobile: The life of a Wisconsin hotdogger
20,000+ miles. 16 states. 40+ cities. 12 months. Hotdogger Samantha Benish has been hard at work since graduating from the University of...
Biden makes 4 million more workers eligible for overtime pay
The Biden administration announced a new rule Tuesday to expand overtime pay for around 4 million lower-paid salaried employees nationwide. The...
‘Radical’ Republican proposals threaten bipartisan farm bill, USDA Secretary says
In an appearance before the North American Agricultural Journalists last week, United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack...
