You know your favorite shops are suffering this year, and you want to support them — but how do you know who’s open, what they’re offering, and how to shop with them? In 2020, the in-person shopping experience has completely changed, and it’s hard to know where to start.

I went into this holiday season wanting to buying local, but I had less clarity than ever on how to do it. With the help of a few friends (and podcast listeners!), we were able to reach out to over 100 businesses to get information on pandemic policies, curbside and delivery options, favorite gift ideas and more. Then, I partnered with Infomedia to pull all the information into an online directory at thelocalistbham.com.

The Local List is now live! This is a shopping directory for Birmingham, Alabama — it doesn’t have every store in town, but it does have a few favorites (plus a few I didn’t even know about before!).

Here’s how to use the list to do your holiday shopping:

• Get gift ideas
• Learn who’s offering curbside, etc.
• Get up-to-date details about hours, favorite gifts, details and more
• Or just explore! Find the list at thelocalistbham.com.

Nobody wants to drive across town only to find a favorite storefront is closed because of COVID, or to feel like we’re asking for special favors when asking about curbside or delivery. I wanted to shop local, but I felt like I was hitting brick walls when Google listed some of my favorite shops as closed when they weren’t, or when I couldn’t tell if their websites were updated post-COVID or not.

I’m hoping The Local List will help all of us who want to stay safe but also support local businesses to be confident in whatever method feels like the best way for us to shop in 2020, and I’m thankful to every business who took the time to share their information to make the list the best it can be.

Do you want to add a business to the list? Fill out this form and let us know your details. (You can also use the “Add Your Business” button on the site.) It’s free, and takes about 2-5 minutes to complete.

Carrie Rollwagen is host of the Localist podcast author of The Localist, a book about buying from locally owned stores and cofounder of Church Street Coffee & Books. Currently, she works as Vice President of Strategic Planning at Infomedia, a web development company in Birmingham, Alabama. Find her as @crollwagen on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and most other social media platforms.