MONROE — Main Street Monroe, which is recognized by American Express as an official neighborhood champion, will have another retail promotion over the holidays to encourage people to shop and explore the downtown historic district. The promotion is simple. Spend at least $10 at a participating store or make a donation in participating stores to the Green County Food Pantry and receive a stamp. Collection areas for donations will be available at each business. Thirty-three stores will be participating this year. That includes Main Street’s pop up shop, Busy Bee Floral and Gift, Mad Charlie’s Café which opened earlier this year, as well as Baumgartners, Tacos Martinez, Zodica Perfumery, Burington Shoes and Frame ‘n Color.
The program will be extended this year. It will start Nov. 5 during Main Street’s Christmas open house and it will end on Dec. 31. Main Street Monroe’s executive director, Jordan Nordby, spoke about the trend this year for people to start shopping earlier than normal for the holidays. “What we do is based on feedback we receive from the shops in the district. People are shopping earlier for the holidays. That’s why we’ve moved up the promotion by two weeks and extended it by another two weeks.” He also highlighted the increased number of participating stores; which is 50% more than last year. “Shop local includes retail and service, and I’m really excited that we can highlight the wide variety of options in the district.”
To highlight the variety of businesses, Main Street will be holding a holiday open house on Nov. 5. Participating stores will be open until 7 p.m. “It’s another opportunity to safely shop and get a bit of a head start on Christmas shopping,” Nordby explained. Many stores will be having night of only promotions and sales, as well as offering gift wrapping, new merchandise, and, of course, starting Rockin’ Around the Downtown Square Retail Promotion. Nordby also stressed the efforts being taken to keep everyone safe during the pandemic and noted that unlike shopping centers or big box retailers, even with a coordinated retail night, stores will not be beyond capacity. “It’s totally normal to have only five or six people shopping in JoAnne’s or the Toy Haus. There’s plenty of room to social distance.” Nordby expounded.
Once a participant has collected at least 12 stamps, he or she will be entered into weekly drawings. Those entered in weekly drawings will also qualify for grand prize giveaways. Grand Prize winners will receive Main Street gift certificates totaling $250, $250, and $500 which may be used at any of the participating stores. Stamps may be collected all eight weeks the program is running. Individuals may also submit multiple entries.
More details, including lists of all merchants within the Main Street district can be found at mainstreetmonroe.org
