Taking its stance in social embeddedness theory, this article questions the assumption that companies' adoption of the Internet implies a linear move from local embeddedness to placeless globalization. The aim of the article is to explore the role of local strategies in a multichannel service production context. In substantiating the argument, 20 in-depth interviews with managers representing the travel and banking industries are used. The article identifies six key roles of local strategies: developing a local market feel, exploiting employees' local explicit knowledge, exploiting employees' local implicit knowledge, developing relationships, using a local branding strategy, and applying a local branch design. This illustrates the way in which, in this context, the Internet has led to places being redefined and used for new strategic purposes, a process that, in the words of Lévy (1998), is referred to as a movement of reterritorialization.
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