Woodland Park's Main Street program rolled out a new consumer incentive this fall aimed at drawing more spending into the city's downtown corridor.
The promotion returns 20% of qualifying purchases to shoppers, with a maximum payout of $100, on any single trip of at least $15 spent within the downtown area. Participants collect proof of their visits by photographing receipts and sending the images by text to (719) 821-1450, after which they receive a gift card. Once a shopper has submitted a minimum of five qualifying receipts, they may direct that gift card toward a downtown business of their choosing.
The Shop & Dine Passport promotion is active from September 1 through the end of October. Anita Riggle, who serves as the city's economic director and budget analyst, framed the effort as a tool for circulating money within the community. "It's a great way to promote our Main Street and encourages people to purchase local and put money back into the community," Riggle said.
The concept originated at a Main Street convention held in Tulsa, Oklahoma, earlier this year, which Riggle attended alongside assistant city manager Kimberly Burleson. The pair brought the idea back to Woodland Park after seeing a comparable program featured there.
Running parallel to the cashback effort, Main Street is also hosting a Fall Window Decorating contest, inviting downtown businesses to dress up their storefronts for the season. Businesses have until September 9 to enter; the public will then cast votes from September 10 through October 9, and winners are set to be announced on October 10. Interested businesses can register by emailing [email protected].
Whether the passport program generates measurable growth in downtown foot traffic or sales over its two-month run has yet to be reported, and no participation benchmarks have been publicly disclosed.