The second round of the Haines Borough’s CARES Act-funded “Shop Local and Save” program stimulated $87,840 in local spending in its first four days.
“In just four days, 212 of the 400 available applications have been awarded,” Haines Economic Development Corporation (HEDC) director David Simmons said Tuesday morning. HEDC, along with the Haines Chamber of Commerce, is responsible for administering the program.
The second Shop Local and Save program, funded using $44,000 from the CARES Act, awards $100 in local business gift certificates to individuals who turn in $200 in receipts from discretionary purchases made in Haines between Nov. 20 and Dec. 6. Individuals can apply for the program up to two times if they spend at least $400 locally.
The first round of the program, which took place in October, was funded with $22,000 from the CARES Act. The program closed in 13 days after residents spent roughly $80,000, exhausting program funds. In its original iteration, the Shop Local and Save program required at least $300 in local purchases to receive $100 in gift certificates.
Changes in the second round were designed to make the program more accessible to those with less discretionary spending, chamber director Tracey Harmon said.
Shopper Liz Landes, who is currently between jobs, said for her, the lower, $200 threshold makes a difference. “I wasn’t around for the last round, but I don’t think I would have done it. (Three-hundred) seems like a lot more money to me. It would have been harder to get there,” she said.
Landes is still working to reach the $200 spending threshold. She said she expects most of her purchases will come from Alaska Backcountry Outfitter and that’s also likely where she’ll want her gift certificates to come from.
Harmon said trends in purchases made over the weekend included hardware purchases for home improvements and winterization, and gear purchases from stores like Sockeye Cycle and Alaska Backcountry Outfitter.
“We were three or four times busier, especially on Friday,” Alaska Backcountry Outfitter owner Dan Egolf said in an interview Monday. He said prior to the Shop Local and Save program, his business had a lot of unsold merchandise on hand due to the lack of heliski and summer tourist seasons. “(The program’s) been a real shot in the arm for local merchants,” he said.
Haines Home Building Supply manager Robert Adams also reported a surge in sales that he attributes to Shop Local and Save.
“On Friday, the day the program started, it was busy,” Adams said. “People bought a wide range of items, everything from Christmas lights to snow shovels to hardware to appliances. You could tell people were shopping for the program. They were all reading the literature and talking amongst themselves. A couple of them still have to go back and shop to add a bit more.”
Assuming spending continues at the same rate as the first four days, the program will have stimulated roughly $160,000 in direct discretionary spending in its second round, Simmons said, adding that the economic impact of the program extends beyond immediate discretionary purchases.
“We’re looking at roughly a quarter of a million spent locally through the two rounds of the Shop Local and Save program,” Simmons said. “A quarter of a million spent locally in town is then circulating through the hands of businesses and community members multiple times throughout the winter… this allows for our businesses to remain open through the winter, to employ our friends and neighbors, and increases the quality of life for us all living here year round in Haines.”
The program comes in a year when the COVID-19 pandemic has decimated sales for local businesses. According to the Haines Borough, sales tax is down 31% through August of this year, compared to the same time in 2019.
HEDC and the chamber will continue accepting applications until Dec. 6, or until program funding runs out, whichever comes first.
Harmon said while the program is off to a fast start, she expects the application rate will slow down in the coming days. She said the Chamber and HEDC will try to communicate when funding is close to running out, and if a few applications come in after the program closes, there could be an opportunity to ask the assembly to fund remaining requests with additional CARES Act funds.
Another change in the second round allows residents to donate the gift certificates they receive to the Salvation Army, giving “a local family in need the opportunity to purchase their own gifts,” Harmon said.
People who have $200 in receipts from local businesses can apply for the $100 gift certificates online at either HainesChamber.org or HainesEDC.org, or in person at either the Haines Chamber of Commerce office in the Gateway Building or the HEDC office in Bell’s Store. Those who wish to donate their gift certificates to the Salvation Army must select a gift certificate vendor. They can then turn the certificates over to either HEDC or the Chamber.