Independent stores nationwide seem to have done as well or better than the chain-dominated retail industry during the 2009 holidays, according to a survey issued Thursday.

The Institute for Local Self-Reliance in Washington, D.C., said sales were up 2.2 percent in November and December versus the same period in 2008 among roughly 1,800 independent businesses nationwide that took part in its survey.

By comparison, overall retail sales rose 1.1 percent on a year-over-year basis for the two-month holiday season, according to a National Retail Federation estimate based on Commerce Department data.

The institute survey is based on a small and self-selected sample dominated by independent merchants who are members of “buy local” campaigns organized in their areas.

Of the roughly 1,200 respondents who were part of groups, the institute said holiday sales rose 3 percent, versus 1 percent for independent merchants who were not part of such associations.

Buy local groups in the Bay Area include the Oakland Merchants Leadership Forum, the Buy Local Berkeley campaign, the Hometown Peninsula Independent Business Alliance and the San Francisco Locally Owned Merchants Alliance.

“I had a lot of customers tell me they were shopping with me because we are local,” said Clark Kepler of Kepler’s Books & Magazines, a Menlo Park store that is part of the 2-year-old Hometown Peninsula network.

Rick Karp, a co-founder of the 175-member San Francisco alliance, said it did a study suggesting that if shoppers made an extra 10 percent of their purchases locally, it would create 1,300 new jobs and yield nearly $200 million in additional economic activity.

“Think about shifting your habits a little bit,” said Karp, owner of Cole Hardware.

The buy local efforts in the Bay Area draw their inspiration from two national groups that organize such campaigns, the American Independent Business Alliance and the Business Alliance for Local Living Economies.

This article was written by Tom Abate for the San Francisco Chronicle.