Reward customers and lend a hand to neighborhood shops. Six municipalities and 105 participating shops, a 6 thousand euro prize pool and 45 purchase vouchers up for grabs. The “Ti PremiAmo” competition returns to the Piave district, which the promoters – Ascom-Confcommercio Conegliano-Valdobbiadene, Treviso-Belluno Chamber of Commerce, the Piazze Creative association, the six administrations involved – interpret, with the approach of the holidays, as a “positive message to city trade in times of high bills”.
An opportunity to stimulate Christmas shopping and «give breath to small retailers who represent the spirit of community». Compared to the last edition, Vidor and Moriago have joined Pieve di Soligo, Farra, Refrontolo and Sernaglia. “A sign of support and encouragement in a particular historical moment”, comments Gianna Vidori, Councilor for Productive Activities of Vidor, “we cannot get used to seeing closed shutters and limping activities”. The retail trade, thanks to the expensive bills, continues to suffer losses: in the four municipalities already involved in the competition last year, 16 shops closed in the first nine months of 2022, 35 in the three-year period.
“We know that the shops in the historic centers are suffering, amidst the energy crisis and the difficulty in finding manpower. But neighborhood shops represent the essence of a community », underlines Paolo Vanzin, president of the Ascom Valdobbiadene delegation.
But how does the contest work? The goal is to encourage purchases in participating businesses during the Christmas period: the initiative takes off on Saturday and will end on January 5th. Bar, food and non-food categories are foreseen. The competition involves the use of the postcard, which is obtained with a minimum purchase of 5 euros in bars, 10 euros in groceries up to 150 square meters, 25 euros in groceries over 150 square meters, 20 euros in restaurants and non-food shops . For each receipt there is a maximum of five postcards. Each postcard must be filled in and posted in the urns found in participating stores. “It will not be a submissive Christmas, we will have a month of initiatives for families. On 11 December, children will be able to enjoy Santa Claus in the town square ”, underlines Silvia Spadetto, Farra’s councilor for Productive Activities.
The prize pool amounts to 6 thousand euros and 45 vouchers will be awarded from a minimum of 50 to a maximum of 600 euros. The drawing of the winning postcards will be carried out by January 15th in the municipal office of Pieve di Soligo. The vouchers can be used in participating businesses by 19 March. It is inevitable, however, to dwell on Christmas, on lights and atmosphere at the time of expensive bills. A Christmas perhaps more sober, but certainly enlightened. «It will be a more collected but not sad Christmas. We will do something to cheer up the wait, pure activities for families. The competition will allow us to support our realities, which are a symbol of life », comments Luisa Cigagna, deputy mayor of Pieve di Soligo. “Yes, the lights will be there. There is suffering in the coffers, we are confident that the Christmas contest can represent a possibility of restarting, ”adds Vidori, councilor of Vidor.
“It will not be a submissive Christmas, we will have a month of initiatives for families. On 11 December, children will be able to enjoy Santa Claus in the town square ”, underlines Silvia Spadetto, Farra’s councilor for Productive Activities.