Local Store Manager Creates Downtown X-Mas Promotion

IRONWOOD, MI - Friday, November 28, 2008 - This year there’s one more a very good reason for doing your Christmas shopping in downtown Ironwood! There’s a new initiative – the brainchild of the Northwind Natural Foods Co-op manager, Eva Smith-Furgason – called Ironwood Christmas Bucks! For every ten dollars you spend with participating downtown merchants you receive one Christmas Buck! Each Christmas buck can then be redeemed with any of the other participating merchants, saving $1 for every $10 you spend. And THAT merchant will then give you another Christmas Buck for every $10 you spend with them!"

The promotion starts December 01, 2008, and it runs for 45 days ending on January 15, 2009.

"I wanted to make it real easy for people to figure out who’s participating in the promotion and who’s not." Eva said, "That’s why we had the printer print the participating merchants on the back of the Christmas Bucks."

"Well, if you spend ten dollars at participating merchants, you get a Christmas Buck. The more you spend, the more you get. If you spend sixty dollars you get six Christmas Bucks. You can take that Christmas Buck and redeem it for $1.00 off a $10 purchase at participating merchants."

According to Smith-Furgason some merchants will not to allow the use of the Bucks on specific items. This appears to be mostly for legal reasons. The Christmas Bucks cannot be redeemed, for example, on alcohol or tobacco items.

"I actually had the idea last year, but for a number of reasons, including a shortage of time, I wasn’t able to get it started. I just think it’s a good idea to promote people shopping locally and utilizing the local merchants that we have. I believe that you can do just about everything you need to do downtown – everything from getting a haircut; to clothing your family; to putting shoes on their feet; and to feeding them."

Last year, Eva suggested the idea of Christmas Bucks to the Downtown Ironwood Development Authority (DIDA), the City board for which she is a sitting member. Her idea met with some resistence from the Authority.

"I think the DIDA feels that they don’t have the jurisdiction to do promotions. I think that they feel that would be a Chamber of Commerce thing, and it might be, so that’s partly why I didn’t pursue it then."

"I think that the next step after this resurrecting the Downtown Merchants Association to get the merchants talking between one another and seeing where they can assist one another; help one another out in whatever way that might be; seeing what partnerships can be made from this; and I think the next promotion would be the Ironwood Festival Bucks. If the winter promotion goes the way I think it will go, I think the next logical step is to repeat it again in the summer."

"At the end of the promotion period, I’m planning on going to every merchant and collecting their redeemed Bucks, and giving them a report on how many were issued to them; how many were given out to people; and how many were redeemed and who redeemed them. This way, the merchants can track where their customers came from and where they are going. For example, if someone bought a dining set at Constantini’s for $1500 and got $150 Christmas Bucks, then Constantini’s would know where else that customer shopped downtown perhaps encouraging future promotions between area businesses. To goal is to get the merchants to work together. This could make the downtown flourish."

"I’ve worked downtown now for six and a half years. We have an amazing variety of merchants downtown! It’s kind of funny, when certain places first opened – when Bale Clock Shop first opened, for example – I had no idea that one of the things they carried was my favorite soap -- wonderful glycerin-based, non-allergenic, locally-made soap. When I first went into Creative Spirits Stamping the had quite a bit of stuff. But now, it seems that their inventory has quadrupled. It’s wonderful! They have everything that a person could possibly need for scrapbooking and stamping. It’s just amazing! And so it is with many of the downtown merchants. I think people would be surprised if they haven’t visited their local downtown merchants in a while. They would be really surprised what they might find that they previously haven’t been able to."

"At our store you can get locally produced products that you can’t get other places – goat milk soap, for example. It’s made in Park Falls. We also have honey and eggs from local producers. We also have herbs and spices in bulk. We have a lot of people like to make their own gift baskets. I have ladies that will come in here and get spice jars; fill them up; and make thirteen-beam soup baskets; and stuff and they give it to their friends for Christmas. We have people that make their own vanilla extract from our vanilla beans. And that’s just our store!"

"I was pleasantly surprised. I went into Constantini’s and they had a lot of really nice clothing. And down in the basement they have housewares and home products – towels and such. I’m hoping people will start shopping in stores they might not normally think to stop in. Getting the Christmas Bucks, for the most part, will be a pleasant surprise to most customers, because are not heavily promoting this. It gives them a unique opportunity to visit the participating merchants to see what else is available downtown."

Eva had twenty thousand Christmas Bucks printed. "Currently twelve thousand are spoken for," she explained, "I did print extras, because I know that some of the merchants underestimated how many they would be going through."

A wide variety of businesses have signed onto the initiative, including several of downtown Ironwood’s fine eating establishments. "Of course, everyone has their favorites," Smith-Furgason admits, "I love, love love, the Uptown Café’s pancakes! Tacconnelli’s garlic gnocchis and their meatballs rock! At the Pine’s Café, my favorite breakfast would have to be the Eggs Benedict. Jan makes absolutely the best Eggs Benedict anywhere in town! And their very reasonable too!"

"We have two hairdressers that decided to participate this year – Hannu’s Haircuts and the Last Tangle." Eva said.

Participating businesses include: Backstreet Cycle; Bale Clock and Watch; Book World; Constantini’s Furniture; Creative Spirits Stamping; Fabric Patch; Floors N’ Mor West; Gasparick’s Music; Gogebic Area Thrift; Handsome Prints; Hannu’s Haircuts; Iron Horse Tattoo; Knight Club Billiards; Last Tangle; the Medicine Shoppe; Midwest Office Supply; New Beginnings; North Light Photography; Northwind Natural Foods Co-op; Northwoods Cabin; Olde Suffolk Ale House; Pines Café; Range Flour & Feed Store; Ronnie’s Camera Shop; Superior Shoes; Tacconelli’s Restaurant; and the Uptown Café.

According to Smith-Furgason, because the deadline has passed, no other merchants will have the opportunity to participate in this year’s Christmas Bucks program. She said she’s certain more downtown stores will come on board for the Festival Ironwood Bucks and next years Christmas program, however.

"It is my sincere hope that this promotion will be very successful for the downtown merchants and the people. I hope people will see the value of this promotion, and that they will see that merchants are really trying to earn the people’s business!"

"Money spent locally, in the local economy, circulates seven times. When you shop out-of-town, the money leaves and it does not come back."

Eva told the Chronicle that the program would not have been possible if it weren’t for the cooperation of all of the participating merchants and the quality printing provided by the Print Shop and Jamie Woodward. The Print Shop is located at 235 East Ayer Street, Ironwood. They can be reached by phone at (906) 932-7223 or via email at j.woodward8728@sbcglobalnet.