Plant City Main Street is stepping up to the plate with a new program that aims to boost shopping in historic downtown.
The new “Downtown Dollars” program will help out local businesses and shoppers with a partnership that was crafted to help small businesses recovery from the economic impact of COVID-19.
Main Street is offering a voucher program for a limited time that gives the local economy a boost while offering consumers the biggest bang for their buck. The Downtown Dollars vouchers can be purchased on the Plant City Main Street website, plantcitymainstreet.com/downtowndollars, for $5 and then redeem them at participating downtown businesses for $10 off their purchase.
“The program will provide direct financial support to our downtown businesses while also amplifying the exposure of the amazing shops, services, and restaurants in our historic district,” Plant City Main Street President Josh Jimenez said in a news release. “Plant City Main Street is honored to help support the small businesses that are the fabric of our vibrant downtown community.”
The new program is live now and will run through Aug. 31. Main Street will cover the difference in cost between the vouchers and businesses so the participating businesses will receive the full-priced sales.
Current participating businesses are listed on Main Street’s website and include: Jessi Rae Bridal, Snellgrove’s Restaurant, Brick City Bricks, The Mercantile, Aromatic Harmony, Honey Pot Wax Studio, Tennessee Jane Boutique, Norma’s Cuban Sandwich Shop, Roots Tap Room & Wine Bar, Blue Thumb Technologies, K.E.Y Esthetics, Clever Massage, Tubtreats Bath and Body, Brick House Cafe, Krazy Kup, The Corner Store, Central Florida Muscle Medic and The Device Clinic.
When a customer walks into a store with their voucher, they can use it for any purchase in the store and up to five Downtown Dollars can be redeemed per customer per visit. The vouchers can not be exchanged for cash and they can not be combined with other offers, coupons, or promotions unless otherwise specified by the business owner.
To further promote the deal, Main Street is offering an incentive to anyone buying five or more vouchers. If you throw five in your cart you’ll receive a free Plant City Main Street sticker. Once you place your order, the vouchers are shipped by the next business day and come within three to five days.
It’s an idea Main Street hopes will help revitalize the economy of the crucial downtown businesses. Executive Director Jerilyn Rumbarger said the program has a few goals. The hope is that the new program will increase consumer spending in downtown businesses with the incentive of discounts via the voucher program. That in turn could increase revenue for the small businesses located in the downtown district.
Rumbarger said the organization spent a lot of time discussing ways to leverage Main Street’s investment to have the largest impact downtown, which can help further strengthen member relationships and build a strong sense of community between businesses and consumers.
As the impact of COVID-19 continued to sweep through the community Main Street knew the clock was ticking and so the voucher program was quickly brought to life.
“We knew that we needed to jump into action with some sort of solution to drive direct spending to our downtown businesses,” Rumbarger said. “Obviously with limited resources and with the situation that was changing daily we needed to find a way to multiply any investment we made and also have flexibility to respond as we move forward. So we came up with a program to provide direct support to our neighborhood businesses and to provide a multiplier from consumer spending, which is essentially the Plant City Main Street’s Downtown Dollars Program.”
Any downtown businesses who are interested in participating can email Rumbarger at
director@plantcitymainstreet.com.