Meet the New York City entrepreneur supporting small businesses in her community
Having spent most of her adulthood working in retail, New York City-based entrepreneur Caroline Weaver noticed that while many people understood the importance of shopping locally, few incorporated the habit into their daily lives. Wanting to change this, Caroline trekked over 2,000 miles through the five boroughs, visiting every small business she could find.
The result of her effort is a comprehensive, local small business guide: The Locavore Guide.
“I decided to make this online resource to simply help people find shops more easily,” Caroline said.
The Locavore Guide is an online directory of 14,000 independently owned businesses throughout New York City. The guide features a variety of stores, including bodegas, gift shops, hardware stores and more. In addition to the online directory, Caroline published “The Locavore Guide to Shopping NYC” and owns The Locavore Variety Store, as part of a strategy to encourage more “in-real-life” shopping and market the online guide.
Social media has been a key component in growing Caroline's business. By sharing her journey online, she has amassed over 32,000 followers on her social media platforms, which she uses for marketing and small business advocacy. Caroline advises other entrepreneurs looking to use social media to bring attention to their business to “have a unique point of view and to be fearless about showing that to other people."
Despite the success of The Locavore Guide and The Locavore Variety Store, Caroline says navigating the state of independent retail has been an “uphill battle” due to competition with larger brands, direct-to-consumer businesses and recent tariffs. In fact, she closed a previous business at the end of the COVID-19 pandemic. But those experiences are not deterring her.
Through her platform, Caroline continues to educate communities on the importance of supporting local businesses and improving the experience of small business owners in New York City. “I've chosen a very difficult career, but I'm hell-bent on doing what I can to understand all of this and to educate people,” she said.
