Shops in the Lake George area are joining the nationwide Shop Small initiative by offering deals for holiday shoppers beginning Nov. 25, Small Business Saturday. To encourage local shopping, the Lake George Regional Chamber of Commerce and CVB is launching a new promotion, the Holiday Passport, which gives shoppers a chance to win prizes by visiting participating Lake George area shops between Saturday, Nov. 25 and Sunday, Dec. 10.
To be entered into prize drawings, shoppers must visit at least five participating businesses and present their passport. Merchants will stamp or sign the passport. Completed passports must be dropped off at the Chamber of Commerce office at 2176 State Route 9, Lake George (just north of the Stewarts shop.) There will be a box in the Chamber foyer where shoppers may leave their passports after business hours.
Shoppers may also mail their completed passports to the Lake George Chamber of Commerce, PO Box 272, Lake George, New York, 12845. Winners will be selected by random drawings on Monday, Dec. 11.
Visit the Chamber website for a list of participating businesses and their special offers. The list is growing and will be finalized on Saturday, Nov. 25. It will be available at the Lite Up The Village celebration in Shepard Park along with blank passports. Shoppers may also download a Holiday Passport here. Prizes include wine tastings, gift certificates, bowling and laser tag passes, food and merchandise.
“If the promotion goes well, we’d like to offer a similar program during the winter months, perhaps to coincide with Winter Carnival,” says Chamber Marketing Director Amanda May Metzger in a press release. “The idea is to get foot traffic into our year-round businesses and highlight how much there is open.”
Since 2010, the Saturday after Thanksgiving has been designated Small Business Saturday. The initiative, launched by American Express, seeks to encourage local shopping during the holiday season, and year-round, as a counter to Black Friday mayhem. According to American Express, New York’s small businesses employ more than half the workers in the state. Money spent in local businesses remains in the community and strengthens the local economy.