Here, on the Brandywine A-List, you will find only local, 100% independent, businesses. You will not find national chains or franchises of any kind. It’s true, some franchises could be considered local businesses. But if we chose to feature those businesses, we’d be left with the messy job of decided which franchises are “local” and which aren’t. So we decided to exclude them altogether. You see, we believe that supporting local businesses is extremely important for our local community and our country, and we want to do everything we can to ensure that the residents of the Brandywine Valley understand the importance of this as well.




Quality control is the most important aspect of what we do. That’s why we employ a number of different methods to ensure that we only feature great quality businesses on the A-List. Visit the Frequently Asked Questions section of our site to learn more about our quality control.




Most sub-categories on the Brandywine A-List contain no more than 5 businesses. The reason for this is simple- to keep you from being overwhelmed by too many options.

However, not all categories are limited to 5:

Most fixed location businesses (retail stores, restaurants, etc.) are limited to a total of 10 per category, with up to 5 in Delaware and 5 in Pennsylvania. This is done, again, for your convenience. If, for example, you were searching for a bakery in the Brandywine Valley, and we only had 5 listed throughout the entire Valley, you may or may not find one close to you, possibly rendering your search unsuccessful.

Some other categories (namely clothing, gifts, and the like) are not limited to 5 businesses either. This is because some businesses, such as clothing boutiques, are similar, yet very different from one another. For example; there are many independent clothing boutiques in the Brandywine Valley, and to list only 5 of them would do you a disservice by not offering you a variety of the options available to you.