Staff writer
Peabody Main Street Association is gearing up for its annual Holiday Shopping Spree, which will begin Friday and run through Dec. 22.
Prizes this year will be $800 for first prize, $400 for second prize, and $100 for third prize. All prizes will be given in the form of Peabody Bucks.
There are 31 participating merchants in the Peabody community. The participants will have posters on their doors or in their stores. For every $10 a customer spends in a participating store, he can get a punch or stamp on a ticket available from the merchant.
“It is pretty easy to complete a number of tickets,” Main Street Executive Director Shane Marler said. “Each ticket will accommodate five punches or stamps, each of which represents a $10 purchase. But each of the five must be from a different store or business. For instance, if you spent $50 with Peabody Market, you can get five punches or stamps, but they will not be on the same ticket — they will be on five different tickets.
“Then, if you pay your water bill, you can get additional stamps from the city office, again in $10 increments on different tickets. Fill your prescription and buy some Christmas cards or gifts at Don’s Drug and get another punch or stamp for each $10 you spend. Carry your uncompleted tickets with you and add punches for any $10 purchase you make at a participating business.”
A new twist to the promotion this year will be a special drawing on Dec. 29 for a $75 prize.
“This will be the losers bracket prize,” Marler said. “Since one of the things we do with the used tickets is track how much money is spent with Peabody merchants, we decided to offer a special prize to those who only partially complete a ticket.
“Those tickets represent money spent as part of the promotion. The shoppers just didn’t get around to making all the required purchases,” he said. “So this year, don’t throw away the incomplete ones! Put your name on the back — a very important part — and bring them to the city building and we will draw one more prize on Dec. 29. Maybe you can be the winning loser.”
For more information, contact Marler at (620) 983-2113.