The deadline is Monday for area merchants to enter “Shop the Greater Shawnee Area Campaign.”
To participate, call Geri Huston at the News-Star at 214-3970 by 5 p.m. Monday. She will coordinate with the merchants and the other media involved in the campaign.
The Small Business Council of the chamber is coordinating this effort once again, and its launch coincides with the statewide Tax Free Weekend, Aug. 7-9.
Focus of the campaign is on attracting and keeping area shoppers in Shawnee.
A number of the chamber members and retailers in the area have participated in previous years, but others, who are chamber members, have refrained, apparently because of some confusion and that it might be too costly for them to be involved.
That is why the chamber has made a concerted effort to better inform its members of the advantages of participating in the campaign.
While the cost for a business to participate is $250, plus a modest gift certificate from the business, there are several benefits.
That cost includes being part of a full-page color advertisement which will run four times in The Shawnee News-Star and twice in the Countywide News/Shawnee Sun.
Those advertisements begin running the week the campaign is launched.
Marta Land of the House of Flowers said, “Participating in the ‘Shop the Greater Shawnee Area Campaign’ brought many new people into my shop as well as giving many of our established customers a reason to come in instead of calling in their order.
“I have found that getting people to go into a business is over half the battle. The campaign also gave us a great list of e-mail addresses which we now use to market our business over the Internet.
“It’s a great program, and if a person uses all the tools given, the results are long lasting.”
To participate in the chamber campaign, a merchant must be a chamber member. The grand-prize winner is selected from the semi-finalists and receives $1,000 in Chamberbucks which are redeemable only with participating businesses.
Among the concerns, apparently from some confusion, was what if the grand prize winner decides to redeem most or all of those Chamberbucks with one of the participating merchants?
Some smaller retailers and businesses have held back, thinking they are then stuck with the cost of the amount redeemed in their business.
The merchant is reimbursed by the chamber for the amount of Chamberbucks redeemed at the business. There is no additional expense to them.
At least two merchants, who are part of the Small Business Council, didn’t realize this previously.
Learning they will be reimbursed, both are participating this year.
The focus of the month-long campaign is to encourage and entice local shopping.
People should also remember that shopping locally increases the sales tax base for Shawnee, even though the campaign launches on the tax-free weekend.
Chamber staff said that participating merchants also are provided a database afterward and it annually generates about 1,200 to 1,300 existing and potential customers with their physical and e-mail address to ramp up their marketing efforts.
The 2008 list consisted of 1,276 contacts.
For more information on the campaign, contact Huston or the chamber. The chamber’s number is 273-6092 and ask for Cindy.
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I received this e-mail earlier in the week from a family who attended the International Finals Youth Rodeo which ended a week ago today.
“Being a rodeo family we have been to many cities all over the United States. To the residents, volunteers and staff at the rodeo grounds it is with our most heartfelt gratitude that we thank you each for your hospitality. This is without a doubt the most pleasant place we have ever stayed. Everyone knew what had to be done, and you all made it look so easy. This was our first year to your city but be assured next year is already on the calendar. Thanks again, The Buso Family.
The Busos are from Oak Grove, Mo., just east of Kansas City, Mo.
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Shawnee’s Traffic Commission has several items on its agenda for Tuesday evening’s meeting.
Among them is consideration to initiate no left turns at Union and Highland, Beard and Highland and Broadway and Highland, are eastbound and westbound only. Commission member Delbert Totty is making those requests.
He also is requesting lane indications for exiting and entering into the Public Works building on South Kickapoo; providing left turn lanes at unmarked entrances to the mall from the access road; and installing no u-turn or left turn signs at Poplar and Kickapoo on the southbound side.
Diana Smith and Lisa Webb, with GT Engineering Inc., 7 American Way, are requesting to have stop signs removed on American Way at the driveways of Wood Pressure Control and Roundhouse.
And, another item calls for restriping Broadway from Highland to MacArthur to accommodate bike lanes in each direction.
The meeting, open to the public, begins at 6 p.m. in the commission chambers at city hall.
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If you have ideas or something of interest for this column, call 214-3922 or e-mail michael.mccormick@news-star.com. Include name and phone number for contact purposes.
