The winner of the best retail event at this year’s Main Street awards was The Shop Small Raffle in downtown Fond du La
c. Now in its third year, the event is aimed at reminding shoppers to think of downtown first during the holiday shopping season. The Shop Small marketing campaign runs from November 1 to December 31, and includes newspaper and radio ads, yard signs and posters throughout downtown, and coordination with national Small Business Saturday marketing.
In 2016, 209 individuals entered the Shop Small raffle by submitting receipts for purchases in downtown during the holiday season (one entry per $10 spent). Submitted receipted totaled $68,175 in downtown spending and included transactions at 64 different downtown businesses. 33 different zip codes were represented in the entries and showed that two-thirds of spending downtown was done by consumers from Fond du Lac and North Fond du Lac, while $24,000 came from outside communities.
