Residents of Tsawwassen have shown their support for local businesses by making full use of a stamp card initiative.
Created by the Tsawwassen Business Improvement Association, the stamp card program started Friday, Nov. 27 and in three days a total of $1,625 was spent at participating businesses. Tsawwassen BIA executive director Michelle Barlow says the reaction from local businesses has been one of positivity and excitement.
Each card has a place for five stamps total. A purchase of $25 or over gets you a stamp on your card. Once the five spaces have been stamped, the card can then be put into the golden drum inside the Tsawwassen Town Centre mall for a chance to win a $500 gift card to any of the 27 participating businesses.
According to Barlow, giveaway programs like the punch card are not new to the BIA as local business giveaway contests are held each year. This one though is particularly poignant considering the struggles small businesses have faced during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It’s been a combination of doing better than they expected and still continuing to struggle,” Barlow said. “There’s certainly some businesses that have talked to me that say they are doing better than they thought they would. They were able to stay open during the lockdown and to obviously pivot and adapt and were just really surprised and pleased that they were doing so well.”
On the other hand, some businesses are still struggling to have their customer base return, Barlow says, attributing this to lack of customer confidence, health limitations depending on the industry and constant changes to COVID-19 regulations.
Despite this though Barlow says that she and local business owners are grateful for the community’s support.
“I would say we’re so fortunate to have so many wonderful local businesses and I think we all really appreciate having those shops and services so close to our homes and if we want them to still be there, we need to support them and try to think local first,” Barlow said.
For a complete list of participating businesses check out the Tsawwassen Business Improvement Association on Instagram @sunnytsawwassen. The punch card program/contest ends on January 1.
