Shop St. Joseph kicks off for holiday season
By Chris Fortune
A St. Joseph holiday tradition is underway as local businesses are now handing out tickets that include one worth $10,000.
Wednesday marks the start of the St. Joseph Chamber of Commerce’s 18th annual Shop St. Joseph holiday program, which encourages residents to spend their money locally during the holidays.
About 125 businesses are participating this year and will be handing out tickets to customers until Dec. 16. On Dec. 18, a drawing will be held for the $10,000 grand prize.
“The goal of Shop St. Joe is always to help keep holiday spending local,” said Kristi Bailey, director of marketing and communications with the chamber. “We want people buying their presents, their groceries, everything with our local merchants.”
Participating businesses give one free ticket to customers and then an additional ticket for every $10 spent.
Topsy’s Popcorn and Ice Cream at 3702 Frederick Ave. inside the East Hills Shopping Center have participated in the program for years.
“Everybody loves supporting local, so to participate in the Shop St. Joe Program, it just kind of lets people know we are a hometown business,” General Manager Rhiannan Hammett said. “We’re based out of Kansas City, but East Hills, St. Joe, that’s our home here.”
A couple of years ago, a winning ticket for the program was given out across from Topsy’s at the mall’s customer service desk. Hammett remembered the excitement of the event, and it’s a program she looks forward to every year.
“I always love to see the shoppers that are really getting into it,” she said. “They’ve got their bag, they’re collecting tickets from here and there and they might come back two or three times to get tickets, so that’s really fun.”
Another drawing will give residents who shop at a small business the chance to win a $2,500 prize. The Chamber of Commerce describes a small business as one that is locally owned and has 10 or fewer employees.
Bailey said the program has grown exponentially since it started, and the chamber is reaching out to more demographics.
“One new thing this year that we haven’t done in the past is we’re advertising the program in Spanish,” she said.
Details about the Shop St. Joseph program and a list of participating businesses can be found at Saintjoseph.com.
