The Glen Lake Chamber of Commerce strives to add value to its business members, and help to attract locals and visitors to the region through festive “off season” happenings. Including the village of Glen Arbor and beyond, spend local campaigns and events have gained traction with good press coverage, marketing and participation in the events from Fall through December.
SHOPtober, a “shop small ~ eat local” campaign began a couple of years ago. This year, the Chamber launched the month long campaign successfully in 2021, collecting 57 submitted entries from shoppers. Out of the entries, 2 winners were selected to receive $100 each in Glen Arbor Bucks. Participants in this event represented Michigan, Illinois, DC, Ohio, California, and Indiana. The event entries totaled just over $27,000 spent locally this month, at retailers, restaurants, hardware, art galleries and more.
Fast forward to November, the Chamber organized and promoted the annual Thanksgiving weekend events to kick off the Holiday season. Beginning with the PJ Party, encouraging locals and visitors to skip the big box store frenzies and “shop small” in your pajamas at your favorite Glen Arbor retailers and eateries, open with specials just for the event. Followed by the Bed Parade later in the morning, then the Tree Lighting & Caroling Friday evening, with the opening of the Glen Arbor Holiday Marketplace. And don’t forget the kids, families lined up at M22 Glen Arbor on Saturday to meet Santa and Mrs. Claus.
Madison Schlegel, Stephanie Adkins
Thanks to 9&10 News for the press coverage, shooting on location all morning, capturing the spirit of the holiday season and festivities that happen Thanksgiving Weekend. Viewers saw it live on the air that morning, then repeated throughout the entire day. Check out the videos online here.
Keeping the festivities rolling into December, the Chamber promoted Ladies Night, with reports of additional reservations made at participating restaurants, and retailers with higher numbers than usual for a Thursday night, in an otherwise quiet season. Both regular customers and new faces were welcomed for a fun evening.
Other holiday themed events geared towards the local community, we promoted “Shop & Sweets Saturday” (meant to be a family friendly event with treats or festive activities available at participating local business, during regular business hours). Later in December, Cherry Republic hosts the Miracle Mile, an ugly sweater fun run, we encouraged participants to “Dash through Glen Arbor” with their race tag for specials at open businesses that same day.
There’s never a dull moment, and plenty of reasons to get out of the house or plan a trip to Glen Arbor ~ any time of year.
