Athlone Chamber and Athlone Town Council have joined forces this year in an effort to encourage people to ‘shop local’ this Christmas.
The joint Christmas marketing campaign, run in conjunction with Midlands 103, kicked off on Monday this week, and aims to highlight the “unrivalled choice” available to shoppers in Athlone, according to president of Athlone Chamber Carmel Connolly.
“It is important in these three critical weeks to promote the unrivalled choice we have here in Athlone for Christmas shopping. The chamber and Athlone Town Council are promoting Christmas shopping in the town, with support from individual shops, restaurants, and other businesses,” said Ms Connolly.
“We are running a lucky dip voucher promotion offering prizes of €100 vouchers. We want to reinforce the message of how good Athlone is for shopping.”
The campaign will culminate in a live broadcast from Athlone next Friday December 17, when one lucky winner will win some €1,000 worth of Athlone Chamber vouchers.
The joint initiative is the first of its kind, and comes at the end of a particularly tough year for local retailers. However, Ms Connolly remains positive that customers will have plenty of incentives to come out and support their local businesses in the coming weeks.
“Athlone has a city shopping mix, and the council has also agreed to the chamber’s request for free parking both this Sunday and the following Sunday [December 12 and 19].
“I hope the thaw will materialise, and we will have strong numbers of shoppers over the coming weekends and weeks.
“It is refreshing to see a lot of innovation going on. It is important that people get value for money, and that businesses provide products and services at good value. People are getting out there and being creative and bringing in customers.”
Chamber vouchers are available in denominations of €20, €50, and €100 from Athlone Chamber, Athlone Credit Union, or online at www.athlonechamber.ie
