Shop small this season on the Square
Christmas shopping can be a chore to some, but the Darlington Downtown Revitalization Association wants to make it a bit more fun this year.
The DDRA will hold a Shop Small Downtown Open House on Thursday, Nov. 21, from 5-8 p.m. on the Public Square with music, photos with Santa, vendors, specials and giveaways. Partnering with the Darlington Recreation Department, the DDRA will even have snow falling to get you in the holiday spirit.
“We wanted to get more businesses and residents involved. With the success of our free concerts in the spring, the DDRA felt adding music to the traditional open house would be a big hit,” says Lisa Chalian-Rock, executive director of the DDRA.
The event will encourage residents to #ShopDarlington during the post-Thanksgiving rush, distribute information about local businesses, and introduce the #ShopDarlington contest giving shoppers a chance to win one of three $100 gift cards for shopping locally between Thanksgiving and Christmas. You can find more details at https://www.buildupdarlington.org/shopdarlington.
Several businesses have donated prizes, and the first 200 attendees will receive a Shop Small tote bag filled with goodies from local shops.
Small Business Saturday celebrates its 10th year, and the DDRA wants capitalize and work directly under this national campaign.
American Express started the effort to encourage people across the country to support small, local businesses, and the U.S. Senate officially recognized the day the following year. Small Business Saturday has been held the Saturday following Thanksgiving every year since.
“I’m always looking for new ways to support and promote our local shops, and this campaign had results that Darlington can’t ignore,” Rock says.
More than 1,450 neighborhood groups have championed the effort, and the campaign has proven profitable for local businesses. In 2014, the campaign rallied people to spend $14.3 billion at small independent businesses during Small Business Saturday. Shoppers supported their neighborhood businesses like never before, continuing to embrace the day as a holiday shopping tradition.
“The DDRA wants Darlington to be a part of that positive trajectory,” Rock says.
As a neighborhood champion in the program, the DDRA aims to get people shopping in Darlington through online promotion as well as the event that day.
Rock says she hopes to build on this year’s event for next year.
“In 2013, we had a Shop Darlington Challenge on Facebook, which expanded into the #ShopDarlington contest that we have continued the last several years. I want to keep Darlington moving forward, and the more we can get our local businesses in front of people the better,” she says.
For information, call 843-398-4000 x 103 or email info@buildupdarlington.org.