Are you a super local shopper? If so, a group of independent Port Moody businesses wants to reward you with discounts under a new "Proudly Local" campaign.
Shoppers taking part in the promotion can collect stamp cards from participating businesses and, once filled, be able to cash in with a 5% discount at those shops for the rest of the year.
"We're trying to get people to identify the local businesses in their community and hopefully go to a few of them and get rewarded for shopping there," said Lisa Beecroft, who with her husband Patrick owns three Caffe Divano locations, one each in Port Moody, Coquitlam and Burnaby.
The inspiration for the Proudly Local campaign came after Beecroft attended a Tri-Cities Chamber of Commerce event last spring. Geared toward PoMo businesses, the seminar showed business owners how a 10% shift in spending to locally owned shops can benefit both businesses and PoMo residents.
"There are incredible benefits that come from shopping locally," Beecroft said. "We just needed to band together to get the message out because Port Moody is such a vibrant, unique community with independent businesses. But with the cost of rent going up, it's getting harder and harder to survive."
Beecroft, along with Port Moody Flowers owner Celia Chiang, Soko Tea House's Julie Veres and Yvette Cuthbert of Rocky Point Ice Cream, started building on a "shop local" idea spotted on Facebook and "that's where we came up with the Super Local Shopper campaign," Beecroft said.
In the past six months, the group has signed up 25 businesses throughout the city, ranging from coffee and tea shops to kitchenware, meditation, fitness, seafood and bicycle businesses, hair salons and more.
Shoppers get a stamp on their card for each $25 they spend at the participating businesses; once they've collected 10 stamps, they become Super Local Shoppers who can then get discounts at those shops. Each business calculates the discount differently, either on the entire purchase or on particular items.
Beecroft said businesses will run the campaign through to the end of the year, giving shoppers ample opportunity to take advantage of the discounts for their Christmas shopping, and then contact member businesses in the New Year to see how effective the program was.
For more information and to see the full list of participating businesses, visit shoplocalportmoody.ca.
