Visit downtown stores, earn chance to win $450 in gift certificates
Published in the November 25 – December 8, 2015 issue of Morgan Hill Life
By Staff Report
Morgan Hill Life file photo
BookSmart is just one of many small businesses that help keep the local Morgan Hill economy humming.
The National Weather Service isn’t forecasting snow for Morgan Hill but that doesn’t mean locals won’t be searching the downtown for snowflakes the last Saturday of this month.
Nov. 28 is Small Business Saturday, the day when survivors of Black Friday can set aside some of their holiday shopping time to focus on the benefits of small businesses.
This year many businesses are kicking it up a notch by having a Giant Snowflake Scavenger Hunt from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Participating businesses BookSmart, The Candy Parlour, Cherisse’s Hair Salon, Murphy’s Mercantile, The Happy Spatula, Huntington Station, Maison A, Olivia’s Hope Chest Boutique, Sleep Play Love and Sonrisa Stables will hide a snowflake in their sites. When shoppers find it, they tell the clerk the location to get their passport marked.
With five punches on their passport, they receive a free ice cream cone coupon from BookSmart. Eight lets them enter a drawing to win $450 in gift certificates from MHDA businesses plus a surprise.
Local businesses put at least three times as much money back into the local economy as chain stores, said BookSmart co-owner Brad Jones.
“That money goes right back into the local economy, and that’s important because half of working Americans either own or work for a small business, and small businesses create two out of every three new jobs,” he said.
Shopping locally on SBS is a more enjoyable way to start the holiday season in the search for the perfect gift for friends or loved ones, he said.
“Often when you go to the counter, you can see the business owner’s eyes light up,” he said. “They tell you a story about how that gift was made or meeting the author, or where it came from, or even how it’s a one-of-a-kind. And the gift immediately becomes even more meaningful and special. Moments like that are what makes the holidays magical.”
