You can get $25 gift card for shopping small in SLO for the holidays. Here’s how
SLO’s Buy Local Bonus is back for the holiday season.
Starting Friday, shoppers who spend $100 at local San Luis Obispo businesses will qualify for a $25 gift card to another SLO business as long as supplies last, according to a news release from the San Luis Obispo Chamber of Commerce.
“The city is excited to support local businesses by bringing back Buy Local Bonus for the sixth year in a row,” San Luis Obispo City Manager Whitney McDonald said in the release. “If you plan to buy gifts this holiday season, why not get rewarded and support the local economy? This pro-business program is a direct investment in the local economy that is wildly successful each year. Shoppers get rewarded for buying local, small businesses get to welcome new customers during the holiday season, and dollars stay in our community to bolster the economy.”
According to the release, the city in the past five years has invested more than $600,000 in gift cards from local businesses. Since 2020, more than 13,000 people have turned in receipts for purchases totaling nearly $3.7 million in local spending, the release said.
In total, the program has generated more than $4.2 million in economic impact for the community, “supporting the small businesses that keep San Luis Obispo special,” the release said. “We have had the great fortune to be included in the Buy Local Bonus program since its inception and could not be more excited for this year’s launch,” Moondoggies owner Nicole Adler said in the release. “This program not only supports our vibrant local businesses, but it also rewards our loyal shoppers for their efforts to shop small and shop local. We are so grateful to be part of a program that strengthens the community as a whole.”
How SLO’s Shop Local program works
To qualify for a gift card, you must spend $100 or more on gifts at small, local retailers in San Luis Obispo starting Friday, Nov. 28.
Then you can bring a copy of your itemized receipts to the San Luis Obispo Visitor Center at the corner of Morro and Monterey streets in downtown SLO where you can choose between the available gift cards. Shoppers can qualify up to three times through Christmas Eve or until the program sells out, according to the release. One receipt cannot be used for more than one entry.
According to the release, the program is not limited to a defined list of businesses, and you can qualify by shopping at any of your favorite small, local retailers in SLO.
Receipts from the following business types do not qualify for Buy Local Bonus: big box retailers, convenience and drug stores, grocery stores and supermarkets, lodging businesses and fueling or gas stations, the release said.
For more details on the Buy Local Bonus program, including how businesses can participate and FAQs, visit BuyLocalBonusSLO.com.
This story was originally published November 25, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
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