The Darlington Downtown Revitalization Association presented three $100 fuel cards to winners in its #ShopDarlington holiday contest. Loretta Taylor, Ina Jean Gough, and Amanda Bland had their names drawn for the prize.

The contest encouraged people to shop in Darlington this holiday season. Between Thanksgiving and Christmas, people were asked to shop at five different Darlington businesses; mail the DDRA copies of those receipts with an entry form, and then they would be entered into the drawing.

During the holidays, more than $11,000 was spent in connection with the contest, and the average shopper spent more than $120 locally for each entry. This only includes folks who sent in receipts and played our game.

“We hope people continue to challenge themselves to #ShopDarlington and shop locally,” says Lisa Chalian-Rock, executive director of the DDRA and planning and economic development for the City of Darlington. “Our businesses try very hard to diversify their inventory to please changing consumer tastes, and we need to reward them with our dollars if we want to continue to have and to grow our retail sector.”

Supporting city shops will boost the community’s bottom line, not just retailers. Local businesses are invested in their community and support youth sports teams, local church and civic groups, and area school programs. When residents commit to support their town’s stores, those store owners can invest in their businesses with added inventory or even added employees if the commitment from the community is significant enough. Additionally, tax money collected from those businesses return to the city and county where the business is based, which funds infrastructure and development in the area, as well as through the wages of your friends and neighbors who staff those shops.