Hello Yokels!

It seems about time that we introduce ourselves! Check out our video below to know more about our founding team!🙂 Yokel currently operates as an online local shop directory but we have plans for so much more! 

Just a few years ago, our founder was trying to shop locally online for the Holidays but didn't know which shops were in town anymore.  Covid, college, and having a child had rendered her isolated at home for years. Once doing the research and interviewing 40 local shop owners, she crafted a solution called YOKEL - an online community that  mirrors our own, showcasing our local towns in all their glory!

Our mission is to strengthen communities and the economy by keeping commerce in the neighborhood. At YOKEL, we believe that shopping locally is the answer to a vibrant economy. Supporting local commerce is a social, economic, and environmental issue that deserves our attention and care. YOKEL’s purpose is to capture the essence of the shopping local movement through technology and to create solutions. 

We’ve created a versatile online local shop directory for locals and visitors to get familiar with upstate towns. Each town on our website showcases a directory with current pictures and links to the local mom-and-pop shops. NO BIG BOX STORES allowed on Yokel! 

Just out - Yokel Blogs! Each town features its own blog where readers can learn about local shop owners and the community. Yokel Blogs gives each area a channel to voice its unique story! As our directories grow to include local services, and more, our mission remains to drive foot traffic to independent locally owned businesses. 

At Yokel, we love bustling communities. Online shopping has made it that much easier to purchase from major retailers and that's where it gets tricky…

If we don't shop in our local stores, they won't be there for us to enjoy! It takes a special kind of folk to maintain a local business. Their shops adorn our sidewalks and reflect the local character of the towns we love. They bring the energy and cozy feelings we expect in upstate New York. 

Rural villages and hamlets have shops off the beaten path and Yokel wants to help put everyone on the map!

Business owners don’t have to be alone in the pursuit of generating local commerce. Their success is everyone’s success. The positive effects that spending money on locally owned businesses has on the greater community are immense! 

Click the links below if you want to learn more about the reasons you’ll SELFISHLY want to shop local! 

Yokel displays are located in hundreds of local short-term rentals, retail shops and restaurants, taxis, hotels/motels, and more! We reach over 148,000 people currently and are growing by the day! 

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~Your Local Yokels