Garrettsville – Last year’s Christmas on Main was such a smashing success; the Garrettsville Chamber of Commerce has decided to do it again this year. This year, the event will begin November 2, 2012 so it coincides with the James A. Garfield Historical Society’s Christmas Walk. Christmas on Main is a program that encourages folks to shop locally and get reacquainted with the local merchants.The shop local event offers shoppers a chance to win $500 Chamber Bucks to be spent locally by shopping the small businesses in the community. The program will run through December 15th and it works like this: each shopper can pick-up a card at participating merchants and every time they spend $5 with participating local merchants they will receive an ink stamp on their card. When the card is full of stamps, they can return it to any participating merchant and it will be entered in a drawing for $500 to be spent at participating Garrettsville merchants. In order to be eligible for the drawing, all full cards need to be returned by December 17th to a participating merchant. The drawing is scheduled to take place at the Chamber of Commerce December meeting where the winners will be notified. There will be three prizes awarded, the first prize is the $500 Chamber Bucks to be spent at participating merchants, second is a poinsettia lottery tree and third prize is a $50 gift card to a local merchant.
This year, there are over 38 participating merchants, who will be identified on the shopping card and by posters in their windows. The event includes most of the shops on Main Street, restaurants, bars, lawn and garden equipment places, hardware store, grocery store and auto dealers, however the auto dealer purchases are limited to auto repair services not new or used car purchases.
Along with the shop local program, the Garrettsville Chamber of Commerce will once again hold their Annual Commercial Decorating Contest. This event is opened to any Garrettsville businesses who want to decorate the exterior of their business, including, but not limited to, windows for the holidays. The merchants do not need to register for the decorating contest; all decorated business will be considered. All the merchants will have to do is have their windows decorated for Christmas by the second of November and the committee will select the winners. First prize in the commercial decorating contest is $100, second is $75 and third place will win $50.
Last year, the event lasted three weeks and pumped over $600,000 back into the local economy. This year, with the extended shopping time, they hope to double that figure.
