What's Up Downtown: ‘Holiday Deal Hunt’ to boost business morale (Voices)

RENO, Nev. — This holiday season, the Downtown Reno Partnership is providing people with a safe way to explore and engage with downtown businesses through the Downtown Holiday Deal Hunt. 

Created to help spread holiday cheer, the game will offer exciting deals and giveaways for customers wanting to be more involved in downtown festivities despite 2020’s challenges.

This year has been challenging, so it is time to uplift community spirit with a fun and interactive game for everyone to enjoy.

Downtown businesses will also have the chance to reconnect with customers who haven’t been able to enjoy the pleasures of visiting downtown since the pandemic interrupted normal, everyday life.

With purchases of $20 or more, customers will receive a card with a logo to a different business in downtown with a peel-off strip on the back of the card that will reveal a prize.

Not only will this add to the excitement of anticipation, it hopefully will encourage people to come back and play again because there’s no limit to how many times a customer can participate.

To explain further, the more cards they redeem, the better their chance is to win one of our grand prizes.

The Holiday Deal Hunt will be held at a safe, socially-distant pace — instead of hosting a weekend event, it will begin on Black Friday, Nov. 27, and end Dec. 31. However, customers can still redeem deals until Jan. 31, 2021, because we want to make sure there’s enough time to collect deals after the hunt is over.

And although it’s a surprise, the game will offer a wide range of prizes, possibly including a free drink at one of your favorite bars, a discounted dinner or gift card, fun stocking stuffers, activities to do with the family and even an exclusive staycation at one of the downtown resorts.

Prizes will be based off of a three-tiered system so customers can receive several prizes for cards with the same business logo on them. But in order to ensure fairness, there is only one card per visit allowed and it will be considered redeemed once the label on the back has been peeled off.

Businesses may have specific split-check or redemption policies, so customers are encouraged to ask about the Holiday Deal Hunt upon arrival.

With businesses working together, the game will be a fun and light-hearted way to boost community morale after a long year.

We are really excited to announce the first-ever Holiday Deal Hunt as it will allow us to give back to the community and show our support to residents and visitors.

We will be publishing more details and rules in the next 30 days — stay tuned to the Holiday Deal Hunt website at downtownreno.org/holidays-in-downtown — as we collect prizes and ramp up for launch.

We are also working with the brewery district on East Fourth Street to create a light district that will be held toward the end of the year. We are hopeful these two events will add vibrancy and color to the City of Reno for the following months to come.

For downtown businesses interested in the Holiday Deal Hunt, the partnership will cover all printing costs and will distribute them once offers and deals have been decided. It’s really important to us that everyone within the business improvement district participate, so marketing resources will also be readily available.

To find out more information about the Holiday Deal Hunt and how to play, please visit our Holiday Deal Hunt website. For interested businesses, the deadline to sign up is on Nov. 11, so make sure to fill out the form on the website to let us know you’re in the spirit of gift-giving.

Once a business has signed up, it will appear on the landing page featuring deals specific to its product or service. The bells are ringing in downtown — it’s time to save.

For any other questions or concerns, please contact Downtown Reno Partnership’s Marketing Manager Mike Higdon at mhigdon@downtownreno.org.

Happy Holidays!

“What’s Up Downtown” is a monthly Voices column in the NNBW authored by Alex Stettinski, executive director of the Downtown Reno Partnership. Reach him for comment at astettinski@downtownreno.org.