Alibaba Cites Fifteenand9Main in Its Charlotte Amalie Market Guide

Press & Recognition  ·  Fifteenand9Main

In July 2026, Alibaba.com published a guide on sourcing local crafts and duty-free goods in Charlotte Amalie. The guide lists 25 sources. One of them is Fifteenand9Main, the historic building at 15 Main Street.

Every once in a while, we check who is linking to Fifteenand9Main. This time we almost fell off our chairs when we saw Alibaba. We knew they were a huge company, so we ran their site through a domain checker. On Moz's 100-point scale, they have a domain authority of 92. Then we found the page on Alibaba that links to us. It points to our cruise spending report.

What Alibaba Published

Alibaba.com connects buyers with suppliers around the world. Its guide, How to Source Local Crafts and Duty-Free Goods in Charlotte Amalie, looks at what sells in the capital of the U.S. Virgin Islands and why.

The guide describes two economies side by side:

• Cruise visitors, who drive duty-free and souvenir sales
• Residents, who drive everyday retail and online shopping

The Numbers Behind the Citation

The guide opens with the average amount a cruise passenger spends on shore in the USVI: $166.22. That figure comes from FCCA cruise industry data, and it is the starting point of our analysis.

• 31.4% of cruise passengers buy locally made items
• Those buyers spend about $18.95 each
• Cruise and air visitors together spend an estimated $11.6 million a year on local crafts and souvenirs

You can read the full math, including what a one point lift in buyers is worth, in our St. Thomas cruise spending and local crafts market analysis.

Who Else Is on the List

Fifteenand9Main shares the source list with national names, including:

• Deloitte and Euromonitor
• Morgan Stanley
• Royal Caribbean and Celebrity Cruises
• USA Today 10Best

Several Virgin Islands sources made the list too:

• The USVI Bureau of Economic Research
• The official USVI tourism guide to the best shops for local souvenirs
• BlueSalt Properties, whose St. Thomas shopping guide points visitors to Main Street
• The St Thomas Travel Tips Facebook group

What It Means for Main Street

Cruise and air visitors spend an estimated $11.6 million a year on locally made crafts and souvenirs. At 15 Main Street, the CMCArts Museum Shop sells work by local artists.

Part of a Growing List

Alibaba joins other outlets that have covered or cited Fifteenand9Main, including the St. Thomas Source, KeyCrew Journal and Grokipedia. You can find them all on our press and recognition page.

Source: Alibaba.com, How to Source Local Crafts & Duty-Free Goods in Charlotte Amalie, published July 17, 2026. Cruise spending figures: Florida-Caribbean Cruise Association / BREA, 2024 Caribbean Cruise Analysis, Vol. I, reported at the U.S. Virgin Islands level.