By Staff
July 28, 2015
BURLINGTON, ON
If they caught you Red Handed – you were lucky – you were probably given a gift certificate and asked a lot of questions as to why you shopped downtown.
The Saturday before last was the Burlington Downtown Business Association’s (BDBA) annual Red Bag day.
Centro went all out with their window – there was no doubt what the display was about.
It worked – the majority of the retailers were onside and several stores featured the event in their windows. There were more retailers involved this year than last.
Facebook painting always draws the kids – which means the parents are close to a captive customer.
Brian Dean, General Manager of the BDBA was delighted when retailers on the street other than Brant got in on the game. “This is the third year we have run the program and it has grown. My retailers are finding it to be a very productive marketing tool.”
The good people at Scriveners made the best of the opportunity.
There were about 50 gift certificates given out – people were delighted to be asked questions as to why they were downtown and what worked for them.
Those retailers that bought into the program are delighted. Several used the word “fantastic” to describe the response they got.
The BDBA is still working through different marketing tools to get the right mix. The telephone directory people sponsored a Yellow Bag program with a contest element to it which Burlington won two years in a row – they are doing something right to make that “vibrant downtown” feel real and effective.
The Test Kitchen’s Pop Up is doing just fine; CineStarz is building their audience and the outdoor patios are very close to full much of the time.
Photographs provided by Jon Root
