Sarah Hickey straightens hangers at 'hey, daisy!' in Downtown De Pere. (WTAQ/Casey Nelson)
DE PERE, WI (WTAQ) – The City of De Pere is hoping to emulate the iconic film ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ in real life this Christmas season.
“In the movie ‘It’s a Wonderful Life,’ the people of Bedford Falls come out in support of George Bailey, so he can keep the Bailey Building and Loan open. It’s an iconic holiday moment. Well, this is that moment for our local businesses,” said Mayor James Boyd. “Many of them have had serious drops in revenue. And many, while they don’t want to say it out loud, are truly on the brink. But you can help us create that Hollywood moment. You can keep our downtown thriving.”
Shopping local is always a big push for businesses in downtown De Pere. That’s why Definitely De Pere is pushing the newly renovated DefinitelyDePere.org webpage, which shows off what every local business has to offer.
“The people here that own our small businesses and that are offering the many, many varieties of choices for shopping and dining – they’re our neighbors. They’re our friends. And right now, the struggle is real,” said Definitely De Pere Executive Director Tina Quigley. “We can do so much to support just by making some simple changes of shopping local.”
All of the retail shops and restaurants are listed along with the shopping options for ordering – whether it be in-store, dining-in, curbside pickup, delivery, take out, or other creative ways to help customers.
“All of these shops have really adapted nicely to being able to offer these types of options,” Quigley said. “Customers are really looking for those unique, one of a kind gift items. And those are things that you can’t find on Amazon.”
“Through Facebook and through our websites in other people’s websites you actually still can browse a little bit and maybe come in for curbside or come in quickly and grab what you need,” said hey, Daisy! boutique owner Sarah Hickey. “Typically in these small stores, pandemic or not, we don’t draw the type of crowds that bigger stores do. So it’s actually a really nice environment if you are first getting back out or you want to take it easy and just kind of dipping your toe in…Most times throughout the day, we’re not really overly full of people in general. So that’s something to keep in mind.”
Hickey says she has tried to focus on the positive things – and the things that the pandemic has essentially pushed businesses to figure out.
“We’ve been meaning to have a website for like 100 years. So when this first hit and we had to take that time and set it up, it’s actually stuff that’s gonna help us long term,” Hickey told WTAQ News. “Obviously, there’s been some changes and some hard times. But we’re just really trying to focus on what we can do to keep accelerating and keep moving forward during this time too.”
Definitely De Pere is also issuing a challenge for people to spend 75-percent of their holiday dollars locally this year, once again directing people to their website to check things out. But it’s not just the individual businesses that will benefit and stay afloat. That spending impacts the local community and economy as well.
“It is really easy to jump on Amazon, but it’s also important to remember that without any of us, the downtowns are all gonna be empty. I think no matter what your shopping habits are, that’s something that you’re definitely going to want to avoid in the future,” Hickey explained. “This is what makes communities special and what keeps people involved and keeps people together.”
Definitely De Pere is also running a gift card campaign this year. For every $25 gift card purchase, from any downtown shop or restaurant, customers are entered to win one of three $500 gift card packages to the business of their choice.
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