Totálně Lokálně.... is you!
Totálně lokálně began as a volunteer project through which I wanted to show people living in Česká Lípa that our town has plenty to offer, and that many things they travel unnecessarily far to large shopping centres for can also be found in local shops and services. Supporting small businesses in small towns is very important: customers often simply do not know about these shops, and a good review leads them there. Without people, life in the centre and throughout the town will lack variety, and which businesses open and survive here depends not only on business owners but above all on customers.
The whole Totálně lokálně project started with an idea, but an idea alone is not enough. To make it happen, you need a tolerant, supportive family and a group of friends who share your outlook, are willing to volunteer their time and skills, and see the same purpose in the emerging idea. Without that, the project really could not work.
Each of us has a talent that the Totálně lokálně project brings together and takes further.
We needed a logo, a map, and photographs of the shops and their owners. Alexandra Hašková painted the linden leaf, and Zuzana Haneková began documenting the stories. From the beginning, I handled the writing and communication with shopkeepers, choosing those we would write about. That was easy because I live in the centre. They were familiar faces I wanted to introduce to others. But it still looked amateurish to me, so we approached Jakub Mencl, who helped with graphics, managing social media and bringing new ideas to the project. Each of us has a talent that the Totálně lokálně project brings together and takes further. Jana Knotová currently takes photographs for us, and Nikola Veselá photographed some earlier stories. Our workshop keeps producing new stories about businesses in Česká Lípa.
In September 2022, we published the first Totálně lokálně Book of Stories, which you can browse in cafés in Česká Lípa, for example.
In July 2019, we set up Facebook and Instagram accounts, and in September 2022 we published the first Totálně lokálně Book of Stories, which you can browse in cafés in Česká Lípa, for example. We also work with the local Magazín Lípa, run by Ruda Živec and Jirka Gotlieber. The guys let us publish one story a month, so the 35 stories already published will gradually reach you in printed, offline form too.
The best thing, though, is to discover the variety of the local scene in person. A motoring event called Speed Festival will be a big help with that too. Organiser Zdeněk Lindr, whom you know from the cafés u Madony and Union among other places, recently approached me. He presented a great idea for connecting local businesses with one of this year's biggest events: he would like to source most of the festival's supplies locally. So accept our invitation to Česká Lípa on Saturday 23 and Sunday 24 September for a festival that brings together many great people, ideas and projects. We would be delighted if you came along, whether as spectators or competitors. And if you sampled food in the streets of Česká Lípa and shopped in local stores.
Stop, look around, discover the wide range of goods, shop and support local businesses.
Such a reason to visit makes sense not only to us, but above all to local entrepreneurs. Do not hesitate to walk into the town centre: stop, look around, discover the wide range of goods, shop and support local businesses. Every one of us can get the town moving by changing our choices and buying locally. Thank you for thinking about it. Each of us matters, because… Totálně lokálně is you!