Nov. 12—The Tahlequah Daily Press' annual Shop Tahlequah promotion gears up this week ahead of the holiday shopping season.
Customers could win big prizes, and local merchants are expected to increase revenue during the promotion. Customers are given raffle tickets for every $10 spent up to $100, and one ticket per $100 spent thereafter. Those who receive entries have a chance to win items provided by area businesses, but also could score cash, with $3,000 being the grand prize.
Joe Mack, TDP advertising executive, said local merchants reap the benefits of extra spending, and can take advantage of affordable advertising during the year-end economic driver.
"For us, it's an opportunity to really engage the public and work with some businesses that don't do much advertising all year-round, and some that do," said Mack. "We give them exceptional value for the marketing piece that it is, and all of the moving parts that are within the promotion itself."
A variety of local businesses participate in the shopping promotion, including restaurants, boutiques, health care facilities, retailers and more.
Mack said a fee is required for local merchants to participate.
"There are three sponsorship levels, and if you're a gold sponsor level, you get X-amount of column inches and print ads, X-amount of digital advertising on our website. Silver is less and then bronze is less than that," he said.
The promotion helped generate more than $600,000 in revenue at participating local businesses in 2020.
"I would estimate at least that much was connected to purchases made in light of that campaign. That's almost a little bit of a conservative estimate, in my opinion," said Mack.
Shop Tahlequah has averaged more than 20 participating sponsors in recent years, and Mack said there are at least 30 this year.
Jacqueline Morris was last year's grand prize winner, receiving $3,000. She said she was shopping at Meigs Jewelry during the Ladies Night Out event when she scored her winning ticket.
"Not all your downtown businesses are Shop Tahlequah participants. But those that are really get a kick start, and it gives the ladies extra incentive to say, 'We're going here tonight and do our shopping because we want to get in on the Shop Tahlequah deal now,'" said Mack.
Get involved
The Shop Tahlequah promotion will come to a conclusion with live, on-air drawings on Lakes Country 102.1, beginning at 8 a.m. on Friday, Dec. 17. The TDP advertising team will be dropping off tickets to participating merchants starting Monday, Nov. 15. Potential participants can also reach out to the TDP at 918-456-8833, and ask for Heather Ruotolo or Joe Mack.