Downtown gift certificates boost sales
Traverse City, Michigan — Merchants got some bang from downtown bucks during a wobbly holiday shopping season.
Sales of Downtown Traverse City Association gift certificates soared to $192,425 this holiday season, up 25 percent from last year.
That’s despite a national downward trend in holiday gift card sales. Some local merchants said certificates dedicated to downtown shops helped boost sales during a trying holiday shopping season.
“I think it brings people downtown who haven’t been here before, or haven’t been here in a while,” said Marylou Zaloudek, who, with her husband John owns Americana Collection on East Front Street. She’s noted more shoppers using downtown gift certificates at her gallery and gift shop, and said they also give them to employees as holiday gifts.
“The downtown has done a really good job of publicizing that they’re available,” John Zaloudek said. “It’s been a rolling snowball type of thing.”
The promotion was launched in the late 1980s and modified in 2002 so the certificates would be accepted at the various banks used by downtown merchants, said Colleen Paveglio, DDA marketing director.
Spending on downtown certificates more than doubled over the past five years, she said. Major employers like Munson Medical Center, Hagerty Insurance and the Record-Eagle distribute them as perks for employees.
“We had really a large increase this year, and we were surprised,” Paveglio said. “We’ve worked hard to make them more customer-friendly and merchant-friendly.”
