Oakland Indie Awards

We at Oakland Unwrapped!—and I think Oaklanders as a whole—recognize that you can make the world a better place and have fun at the same time. Of course, there are lots of habits we all need to change and new ones we need to adopt—from composting to taking public transportation to attending a community meeting—that change the world for the better, but it doesn’t have to be difficult or overwhelming. And sometimes, it can be fun.

In fact, one everyday activity that makes a huge impact on almost every aspect of our society and environment is shopping. By being conscious when we shop, we can:

  • Create and retain jobs in Oakland
  • Preserve Oakland’s soul and creativity
  • Keep money circulating in the community for critical services
  • Save our incredible open spaces, reduce pollution, and reduce obesity
  • Reduce political corruption and strengthen our democratic system

Seriously. This is a root cause issue, and we can make a difference in all of these areas just by doing the things we love to do. You can check out our website for more information and studies that support these concepts.

So, as Grand Lake residents already know, changing the world can be as fun as a breakfast at Lynn and Lu’s, a movie at the Grand Lake Theatre, buying a sexy pair of previously worn jeans at Maribel, or cooking up one of Amanda Brown-Stevens’ recipes with ingredients from the farmer’s market.

Oakland Unwrapped! is here to help to all Oaklanders have fun and change the world at the same time. Our goal is to make it easy and compelling for people to shop locally owned, especially for those who don’t have the time or ability to walk down to a neighborhood shop like many Grand Lake residents do. We do this in several ways:

  • Our Shopping Hotspots Newsletter and Blog reminds/tells people about all the cool local shops and artisans Oakland has to offer—both the new ones popping up and the classics we all love.
  • Our Oakland Online Marketplace provides a way to buy locally owned online. When it launches at our party on May 4th, you can buy from local Oakland businesses and artists online! This isn’t a replacement for walking down the street to your neighborhood shop, but it can help when you need to shop during weird hours, you need to comparison shop across Oakland, or you can’t get to one of Oakland’s retail districts. Forget Amazon.com—go to OaklandUnwrapped.org!
  • Our Oakland Indie Awards Party on May 4th celebrates the impact of existing businesses and artists have on our community. In conjunction with our launch party, we are hosting our first Oakland Indie Awards. This event will remind people every year of the tremendous spirit and impact of our locally owned independent businesses and artists. With awards like Oakland Soul, Neighborhood Dynamo, Greenie, Pillar, and Youth Empowerment, the event specifically celebrates the many ways that community-owned establishments give back.
  • Our Gift Registry, Certificates, Cards, and Baskets are coming soon, too. We are currently building all kinds of fun tools and products to make it easy to buy gifts—from birthdays to weddings to corporate welcome and thank-you gifts—that support Oakland. These will be made available on our Online Marketplace shortly after launch.
  • Our educational and advertisting campaigns provide year-round reminders to shop locally owned and independent. We work with the City of Oakland and Oakland Merchant Leadership Forum (OMLF) on educational campaigns such as Shop Oakland, and we will soon launch advertising campaigns for our Online Marketplace.
  • Our policy work includes participation in groups, coalitions, and conversations with the City of Oakland through which we can help promote policies that support existing businesses and fill our retail gaps with locally owned businesses (both established and startups).

Of course, we did not create this movement, nor are we alone. In fact, the trend toward shopping local and independent, and the concept of local sustainable economies is steadily increasing—and joining forces with the local-food movement. Communities across the country are changing their local economies. Articles in Yes! and “Eating Better Than Organic” in Time and books such as The Small-Mart Revolution and the Big Box Swindle are all providing the whys and hows of supporting healthy local economies. Local organizations such as the OMLF, Global Exchange and Ella Baker Center, and national networks such as American Independent Business Alliance (AMIBA) and Business Alliance for Local Living Economies (BALLE) are all using these principles to make every community a better place.

So… if you want to have fun while changing the world with Oakland Unwrapped!, we have a few suggestions:

I hope you’ll join Oakland Unwrapped in our passion for community-conscious shopping! Learn more about our mission, vision, and philosophy on our site.

See you on May 4th!