Lafayette leaders encouraging purchasing gift cards at local businesses

Lafayette leaders are encouraging shoppers to purchase gift card this season to help local businesses.

Getting a bit of help from local leaders.

They're encouraging shoppers to purchase gift cards at their favorite local businesses.

News 18's balint szalavari is live in downtown lafayette.

He joins us with why leaders chose this idea.

Balint?

The idea was created to encouarage local spending while keeping money local.

Lafayette mayor tony roswarski says he hopes this will continue to help bring people downtown.

With the holiday season underway, local businesses are hoping to see an increase in sales.

Clawson: "we expect that business to double or triple as far as local deliveries go."

Lafayette leaders like mayor tony roswarski are hoping gift card sales will boost business this season.

Roswarski: "if we want to keep them, we need to do things like this year round, every year, but this year in particular because people are a little bit more concerned about coming out."

Roswarski says this would help keep money local.

Roswarski: "it gets that income in.

Folks don't have to use them right now, right?

They can wait for six months.

Vaccine, things get better, but it gets those businesses that income, that cash infusion now."

Local businesses like roth florist are happy to see continuous support from the community.

Owner steven clawson has seen steady business amid the pandemic.

But he says he's seen a shift in the way consumers shop.

Clawson: "the foot traffic is down.

More phone and internet business which has affected that we wouldn't do as many gift cards as maybe other shops might."

Clawson is hopeful the push for gift cards will help bring more people through the doors.

Clawson: "we depend on the foot traffic to come in ansee te stimulated by that.

So we have to be creative with what we can offer."

Nicole kerkhove (ker- cove) is an employee at the homestead in west lafayette.

She says they've seen a boom in business during the pandemic.

Kerkhove: "i've had countless pple tell me that they're thankful for the small businesses to be open and especially for us to have the services we can provide for them."

In addition to gift card sales, several downtown businesses will be hosting "christas shop hop".

It will take place december 19th and is another way people can help support locally owned stores.

Reporting live, balint szalavari, news 18.

Thanks balint!

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