A passport to downtown: new program turns shopping into a summer adventure

Morganton’s Main Street office is bringing a twist to this summer’s shopping experience in downtown Morganton through “Destination Downtown,” a new summer passport program designed to reward those who attend events and support the small business community.

The summer passport is free and comes with nine checklist boxes that, once completed, can be turned in to receive a prize of Downtown Bucks, which are like gift certificates that come in $5 increments and can be spent in downtown retail and restaurants, including the movie theater.

“This is hot off the press. It’s a new way for us to get people traveling through downtown businesses,” Main Street’s Kasey Goodfellow said. “This is our first time doing it, but if it takes off, like we hope it will, then we will do it annually.”

The program began on June 8 and will run through Aug. 31, and anyone who is 18 or older can participate. For those who want to join, passports can be found at any of the more than 20 participating downtown merchants or at the Main Street Office at 112B W. Union St.

Examples of participating businesses include Uptown Consignment, West Union Art Studios, Viva la Vintage, Benjamin’s & Libba’s, Fonta Flora, and more.

Each time a participant completes a qualifying purchase or attends a designated community event, they will receive an official sticker, with a limit of one per stop. Once all squares are full, participants will fill out their contact information on the back of the card and drop it off at any participating business or the Main Street office by the Aug. 31 deadline.

Some examples on the checklist include spending $25 at a downtown retail business, purchasing a dessert, pastry, or coffee in downtown, along with free ways to get involved like visiting a TGIF Summer Concert.

“For people who are usually downtown, I think it’ll be fun for them to actually see how they’ll fill this card up with ease, and for people that perhaps aren’t downtown shopping as much, it’ll be a wonderful way to get them to our downtown stores,” Goodfellow said. “It’s not only a fun game, but once we get all the cards in at the very end, we’ll draw lucky winners.”

On Sept. 4, completed passports will enter a random drawing for a grand prize of $500 in Downtown Bucks, along with five other winners who will each receive $250 in Downtown Bucks.

To find which businesses are participating, participants can scan the QR code on the “Destination Downtown” flyer. When participants come to the Morganton Farmers’ Market, they will receive their stickers from Jennifer Bell with J&J Farms. For those attending a TGIF concert, participants can get their stickers from Goodfellow or Main Street Manager Makenzie McGinnis at the beer and wine tent.

Main Street is still planning to have its “Buck Wild” event this year in the fall, but Goodfellow said she and McGinnis wanted to try something new this summer.

“We just really want people to pick up cards and give this fun event a go,” Goodfellow said. “It’s just a wonderful way to be supportive of our downtown and generate some good revenue for our wonderful businesses.”