LocalShops1.com is the area’s most active advocate for local, independently owned businesses in the Tampa Bay area. We work with businesses, charities and other cool groups to come up with creative ways to make our neighborhoods better. Shopping locally has the economic advantages, of course: Money spent locally is more likely to stay locally. But it's not just about money. These are the businesses that link us to the past, and ensure our communities will have lots of character in the future.