The Davis Enterprise Endorses 30 Dollars on 8-30

The Davis Enterprise Endorses $30 on 8-30

Local media embraces "$30 on 8-30" concept...read below for Davis Enterprise coverage from Friday, August 21, 2009, as well as editorial endorsement on Sunday, August 23, 2009

Published Friday, Aug. 21, 2009, in The Davis Enterprise

Make those registers ring
Davisites encouraged to spend $30 downtown on 8/30

By Sharon Stello
Enterprise associate editor

Downtown Davis businesses aren't waiting for federal stimulus money to trickle down.  Instead, they’re joining forces for a "$30 on 8/30" campaign, encouraging community members to jump-start the local economy by spending $30 or more at downtown Davis shops and restaurants on Sunday, Aug. 30.

That's a new pair of jeans, a few books or CDs, dinner for two or a date night movie and dessert. Participating businesses will offer discounts and hand out stickers that say, "I Spent $30 on 8/30 — Have You?," to shoppers who meet the goal.

Those who spend $30 on the designated day may enter their receipt in a raffle for prizes such as gift certificates and gift baskets from downtown shops. To qualify, purchases may be made at any downtown business — not only at participating businesses. The downtown includes the area bounded by First, Fifth, A and I streets, but also extends up G Street to Eighth Street and the Davis Commons shopping center at First and D streets.

The shop local effort, organized by the Davis Downtown Business Association, aims to bolster downtown cash registers in this struggling economy. The idea was patterned after a "$20 on the 20th" project spearheaded by the Yuma Sun newspaper in Arizona last month.

Joy Cohan of the DDBA likes "the simplicity of it … it's easy for people to remember."

She adds that "$30 on 8/30" is not just another festival or event, but directly helps businesses because it will "literally put shoppers in their doors."

Cohan said in the down economy, "we have to be a little savvier" with ways to boost the bottom line of downtown businesses.

Cohan said she hopes the simple marketing effort along with catchy offers by businesses -- 30 percent discounts, items specially priced at $30 and 30 special sale items -- will attract people downtown who don't usually shop there.

The idea is to expose more people to the downtown shopping area, let them see "how enjoyable it can be to come downtown" and encourage them to return.

Prix fixe dinner
Fuzio Universal Bistro, which recently moved from the Davis Commons shopping center to 139 G St., is participating in the campaign. Fuzio will offer a special four-course meal for $30 per person. Diners will have the choice of crab cakes or firecracker "slyders" for the appetizer; a mixed green or Caesar salad; flatiron steak, Mediterranean salmon or shrimp scampi for the entree; and a deconstructed tiramisu for dessert. For another $10, customers may sample four Oak Ridge wines.

Patrons also may order off the menu -- a new one will be introduced Monday -- at the regular prices.

Fuzio manager Perry Stockwell anticipates the Aug. 30 event will be a success.

"With the economy the way it is, I think people are looking for deals," Stockwell said. "And to keep money in Davis would be a great thing."

Armadillo Music, 205 F St., is another participating business. The shop, which sells used and new CDs, DVDs and vinyl records, will offer a 30 percent discount on used items that day.

"I think it's a good idea," assistant manager Jordan Smart said of the $30 on 8/30 campaign. "I think anything that encourages people to spend money in the downtown area is good for Davis as a whole."

Smart said summer is typically a slow time for business as most of the UC Davis students have returned home until fall. Combine that with the flagging economy, Smart said, and "things are slower, but we’re doing all right."

Smart said he believes some Davis residents may not realize the wide range of products and services available downtown -- from music to books, shoes and more.

"There's a lot of variety in downtown and a lot of times I think people turn to out-of-town chain and big-box stores for things they could just as easily get downtown," Smart said.

$1.5 million push
Cohan said the campaign provides a way to educate the community about what downtown stores offer and the positive economic impact of spending money at local businesses.

The DDBA estimates that if the entire adult population of Davis (about 74 percent of the city's 64,000 residents) were to spend at least $30 in downtown Davis on Aug. 30, nearly $1.5 million would be pumped into the cash registers of downtown businesses that day.

According to the DDBA's economic analysis, up to $18 of the $30 spent by each shopper that day will stay and recirculate in Davis, compared to only $1.80 of $30 spent at a "big-box" retailer. Those numbers are based on the following statistics: 6 cents of every dollar spent at a big-box retailer is retained/recirculated in a community, according to the Rocky Mountain Institute, and 60 cents of every dollar spent at an independent retailer is retained/recirculated in a community, according to the Small Business Association.

"This event is really meant to be an expression of those statistics," Cohan said.

In addition to the local economic impact, Cohan noted that shopping in the local community is "one of the ways people can be green" since consumers use less gas than driving to shop in Sacramento or other parts of the region. Consumers could even bike or walk and use no gas at all.

To enter the raffle, send a copy of your receipt to the DDBA, P.O. Box 72497, Davis, CA 95617; fax it to (530) 756-6504; or scan and e-mail it to joy@davisdowntown.com.

-- Reach Sharon Stello at sstello@davisenterprise.net or (530) 747-8043. Comment on this story at www.davisenterprise.com