Locago: The Digital Marketplace Connecting Communities Through Local Shopping

Small scale shops and boutiques offer a unique and memorable shopping experience, while fostering a sense of community and local charm that appeals to both consumers and store owners. These small businesses populate neighborhoods throughout cities in the United States, including the Greater Chicago area.

In January 2024, a phone call between Rachel Vadhan, Kellogg ‘25, and her sister, sparked the idea behind Locago [rhymes with Chicago]. On a Friday afternoon during what she would've assumed to be a high-foot-traffic time, Rachel found that many stores were open, but empty. She reflected with her sister on the last item she purchased - a leather jacket - and noted her journey: "I saw something on Tik Tok, then went to Google and Pinterest for inspiration, browsed on Bloomingdales and purchased something on Nordstrom. At no point did I ever contemplate looking down the street." She continues, "that's when we started to dig into the digital discovery issue for small businesses. Customers really tend to shop small as a social activity on the weekends--and they do not view these stores as a legitimate destination for finding a specific item, when they are more likely to convert. These stores and their sites are just too dispersed."

Locago, a play on “going local” and “Chicago,” is a digital marketplace for shopping at local small businesses, making it easier for you to shop your main street more often. The initial business model for the website will enable customers to discover, shop, transact by store, and then pick up in-store.

From a functional lens, Rachel shared that users will be able to shop by product category, like leather jackets, across all small businesses nearby, or they can browse all of the inventory of just one store. Locago's online experience combines the modern conveniences of shopping at mass retailers with the joy and familiarity of shopping small local businesses.

Sparking this business model was the realization that store owners have a discoverability problem. Although many of these stores have social media accounts and ecommerce, they don't gain as much acknowledgement as desired. “As we have been going to stores, nearly every single one of them has been extremely open to the Locago platform. This is where we realized that we are actually solving a problem,” shared Rachel. She's found that so many store owners see less than 10% of sales from digital--and that most rely on variable foot traffic during the 8 weekend business days a month to stay in business.

As a marketplace, Locago serves two sets of customers and solves two sets of problems. "We like to think of Locago as a new marketing and customer acquisition arm for these small businesses, giving store owners time back to focus on what they enjoy most, the in-store customer experience and operations."

From the customer's perspective, Locago offers a one-stop-shop to discover unique items at the convenience of their neighborhoods. Customers generally want to see their downtowns thrive but often choose the convenience of larger-scale retailers. This is where Locago comes into play, as a digital marketplace bringing scale to shopping small.

Rachel was drawn to the Jumpstart program because The Garage provides a collaborative space that combats the typical lonely entrepreneurial process. Rachel shared, “When I applied to Kellogg, the Jumpstart program was one of my three entrepreneurial goals I set for myself because it was the first opportunity to test and see whether I enjoyed working for my own company every single day–and spoiler alert, I do!” Rachel is joined this summer by Liam Powers, Weinberg & Bienen ‘26, and Michelle Hwang, Weinberg ‘26.

Looking ahead, Locago aims to incorporate the majority of the Greater Chicago neighborhoods and small businesses into this digital marketplace. As they expand Locago’s platform, the team hopes to partner with various corporations, such as American Express, Shopify, and other Point-of-Sale providers, and local organizations including Chambers of Commerces.

Stay tuned for Locago's launch, a web experience across Chicago neighborhoods in September!

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