The city’s Office of Economic Development (OED) launched the 2011 “Only in Seattle” marketing campaign today, which celebrates locally-owned retail shops and restaurants in neighborhoods around the city, including, for the first time, Queen Anne.
The Only in Seattle campaign began last year, and highlighted five neighborhoods: Ballard, Columbia City, Georgetown, Rainier Valley and West Seattle. This year’s list, in addition to Queen Anne, will highlight Belltown, Capitol Hill, Chinatown/International District, Madison Valley, Phinney Ridge, Greenwood, South Lake Union and the University District.
The Phinney-Greenwood area will be the first of those eight neighborhoods to be featured on this year’s site, beginning today. The others will be rolled out one week at a time. Next week is the University District, and Queen Anne will be featured during week three, beginning on August 10.
Four Queen Anne businesses will be featured during the neighborhood’s campaign, but we won’t find out which ones until that week.
“Locally owned small businesses help build strong neighborhoods,” Mayor Mike McGinn said in the press release. “By shopping and dining at local businesses, we can keep dollars within the community and help forge a sense of pride and ownership among Seattleites about where we live.”
The Only in Seattle campaign, which launched in 2010, seeks to showcase Seattle’s most unique spots that represent some of the best of Seattle’s independent stores and restaurants. The campaign’s “buy local” mission not only encourages people to shop locally, but more importantly, aims to inspire people to discover and explore new neighborhoods and businesses throughout the city. By the end of the summer, the campaign will grow to spotlight 58 businesses in 13 different neighborhoods on the project website: OnlyinSeattle.org.
“The businesses featured in the campaign all deliver one-of-a-kind experiences and range from wine shops to butchers to the home of one of the largest video collections in the world,” the press release read.
You can also follow Only in Seattle on Twitter and “like” them on Facebook.