This spring, the DBIA led a brand new downtown retail incentive program which took locals on a “wild goose chase” in search of golden eggs for a chance to win a $1,500 Boro gift card shopping spree.
The focus of this initiative was on bringing the magic and excitement back into in-person shopping experiences. 200 participants joined the hunt with over 100 active scavenger hunters.
“I love supporting small businesses and shopping locally because you’re supporting families above all else. You get to know the people who you’re buying from, which is so much more meaningful than buying from large corporations,” says Donald.
Many participating businesses noticed an increase of foot traffic to the downtown retail shops as locals explored the downtown in search of golden eggs.
“We had one group of friends come into our store, a couple of whom had just moved here from Toronto. They had learned about the scavenger hunt and told us they were visiting about six different stores looking for the golden eggs, making purchases along the way as they discovered businesses,” says Andrew Damiany, owner of Gentry Apparel.
Throughout the program, golden eggs were strategically hidden inside a variety of downtown retail locations on a rotating schedule. This whimsical downtown scavenger hunt utilized a mobile app called Goosechase, where participating players would take an image of each individual egg they found to increase their number of entries into the draw. All 20 eggs were hand-painted by local artists with each egg showcasing their own unique style.
“It’s been really nice to see people getting excited for the summer and also getting out to explore small businesses and local retailers while having fun in the process,” says Bhojan co-owner Aniket Khera.
