Holiday shopping campaign a success
By KRISTEN HOOPER
Director, Peabody Main Street Association
The holidays have come and gone and so has the most intense shopping season of the year. Each year, people are encouraged to shop locally and 2006 was no exception. Peabody Main Street Association provided a new incentive to shop locally.
The Hometown Holiday Shopping campaign began Dec. 6 and concluded Dec. 29. For every $10 spent in a participating business a shopper received a ticket. Completed tickets were returned to participating businesses and entered in a drawing for Peabody Bucks.
Prizes were $200, $100, $75, $50, and $25. The drawing was held Jan. 3 and winners were drawn by Mayor Tom Schmidt.
Twenty-two businesses participated in the promotion. There were 10,399 tickets distributed by businesses and 8,408 were returned and entered into the drawing, showing a total of $103,990 spent locally by consumers.
When money is spent in the community at local businesses, the businesses reinvest the money back into the community. A single dollar exchanged through local hands is recycled, on average, through five other local hands, city taxes, employee wages, and purchase of additional materials from other local businesses before being transferred out of town in order to import additional goods.
By doing the math, $103,990 multiplied by five is $519,950. What a holiday season!
Everyone who shopped locally and who remained committed to local Peabody businesses should be commended.
Hometown Holiday Shopping winners were Cyndi Pohlman, Jackrabbit Hollow, $200; J. Richstatter, Peabody Market, $100; Brenda Sowers, The Coneburg Inn, $75; Pauline McPheeters, Jackrabbit Hollow, $50; and Jeanne Strotkamp, Food Mart, $25.
Participating businesses included A Little Off the Top, Baker Furniture & Carpet, Cameo Rose Antiques, City of Peabody, Country Bunny, The Coneburg Inn, Don's Drug Store, Food Mart, Jackrabbit Hollow, Marshall Auction, Mayesville Mercantile, Peabody Farm Service, Peabody Gazette-Bulletin, Peabody Hardware, Peabody Main Street Association, Peabody Market, Peabody Sausage House, Peabody State Bank, Peabody Veterinary Clinic, Reliance Energy Partners, Scissor Cottage, and Sharon's Korner Kitchen.
