Port Alberni's Unique SHOP LOCAL PROGRAM IS BACK FOR 2014! Designed as a reward based system we are honoured to work with the local merchants to help recognize and THANK people for support our businesses. Here's how it works....

X Business provides us with any number of $100.00 Gift Certificates for their store. Could be 1 GC or how ever many they wish to provide.

Once all GC's are collected (last year we had 49 of them for a total of $4900.00) we then set up a schedule of visits over the first 24 DAYS of December.

We call our program 24 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS - PAYING IT FORWARD

So on December 1st we decide to visit 'Y' Store at anytime during their open hours. We visit by surprise. Upon entry we identify ourselves to the Store Management and remind them why we're there. We then, along with the manager (if available) approach a customer who is making a purchase. We identify ourselves to the Customer and then we THANK THE CUSTOMER FOR SHOPPING LOCAL. We seek permission to get his/her picture and we provide the customer with a $100.00 Gift Certificate to another store in Port Alberni. A store that doesn't compete with the one we're in and most likely a store in another part of the city. We make sure that the Customer fully understands that it is the STORE they're in that is PAYING IT FORWARD for the Customer.

So, if X store give us 3 GC's then we'll be visiting X store three times over the 24 days of December (prior to Xmas). The gift certificates for X store will be distributed elsewhere over the same period of time.

This is a wonderful way to promoting a SHOP Local theme in Port Alberni. We hope that you will consider participating and we hope that through this program you may in fact gain new customers and see an increased spend because of that.

Where possible all pictures taken will be posted to our FACEBOOK page and Shared over to yours. We'll also put some on our Website and like last year we'll invite the media to participate as often as possible. Shaw Cable, The Peak 93.3, The AV Times and the AV News all worked with us last year in promoting this unique and rewarding concept.