It's easy for me to preach "shop local" from my blogger's perch in Manhattan. While many companies are headquartered here in New York, boutiques, bodegas and mom & pop shops rule this roost. Aside from Starbucks (NASDAQ: SBUX) -- c'mon, they're ubiquitous -- and maybe Rite Aid (NYSE: RAD), I'd have to hike a mile or so to reach the nearest publicly traded business.

But committing my Christmas dollars to local businesses is a tradition I picked up from my ex back in North Carolina, and I think I'm all the better for it -- and all the better served.

For starters, you're far more likely to be wowed with the service from a small shop. At a local business, often you deal directly with the shop owners, who have an undeniable stake in your transaction. Because their equity and livelihood depend upon the repeat business of customers like yourself, you're worth more to the small business owner than the customer queued up at a crowded cash register at Circuit City (NYSE: CC) or Sears (NASDAQ: SHLD), and that value is evident in the transaction.

I collaborate on a local blog for mamas in Portland, a famously liberal town. Today we posted a question from a reader, who wondered where it was good to shop for things like garbage bags, socks and paper. In her quest for information about sweatshop abuses and the like, she'd already discarded Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT), Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE:WMT) and Fred Meyer, a local chain owned by The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR). She asked, "I'd prefer my money not going to line the pockets of Target or Fred Meyer execs," and wondered where her money should be going.

A bunch of answers immediately sprung to mind, for me; I've recently been doing quite a lot of investigation into the employment and procurement practices at Whole Foods Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:WFMI) and learned that, not only was the company commendable for treating its employees exceptionally well, but also the CEO is one of the hardest-working, least-highly paid CEOs in the industry. He's humble and honest. I piped up in the thread to sing Whole Foods' praises -- but another mama responded that she preferred to avoid Whole Foods; the company isn't "local." Same with Trader Joe's, owned by the German ALDI Group -- fair trade products are procured whenever possible, they treat their employees like kings and queens, but the money couldn't be going further away.

Do we really care that much how far a portion of each dollar goes? After all, my best buddies and I eagerly snap up yarn died in women-owned cooperatives in Uruguay, and coffee grown by rainforest-friendly farmers in Panama. Is it about the distance the money travels? And if so, is any company really "good"?

On a slow Yahoo! news day, I thought I'd mention something I haven't had time to cover the past couple of days - Yahoo! Local. On the evening of September 13, Yahoo! added many features to its already popular Yahoo! Local. With these new features, Yahoo! Local is now more social and more customizable at the same time. Favorite tagging, a new lists feature and customizable profiles makes it unique. Really. Try it.

Collections is a news feature that allows users to organize information in lists of grouping such as, say, best seafood restaurants and create a personalized local directory, if you will, in this manner. The lists can be set to public or private. To that, users can now upload photos directly to their collections, create slide shows, read/write recommendations and reviews as well as tag locations. The personal profile allows users not only to review recent activity but it even makes recommendations based on latest searches.

From reading bloggers' posts, I get the feeling people are impressed, plain and simple. Compared to Google Local, the Yahoo! site seems to be more dynamic and practical, have more functionality, and lead in this market.

Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO) shares have gained 29 cents or 1% to close at $29.32.