After road work began on El Camino Real, the Atascadero Chamber of Commerce launched a downtown shopping gift card initiative to boost local businesses affected by the construction.
Souza Construction, the company doing the work along El Camino Real, donated $10,000 to the program.
Shoppers who spent $100 could receive a $20 gift card from a participating business of their choice.
According to the chamber, that $10,000 investment produced $62,000 of spending in downtown Atascadero.
Dale Fisher, a new Atascadero business owner said business stopped when construction began on ECR.
“Everything was just cones and blockage. Even though they still had right of ways for people to get in there, it was very intimidating for so many people,” Fisher said. “It brought business to a halt in some areas for a few weeks.”
However, he said he knew how the construction along El Camino Real would impact business when he opened Dewy Rose in March.
“I started this business knowing what was going to happen but also knowing the outcome once it was done and completed. The traffic it would bring in here, it would be a positive,” Fisher said.
Fisher said the gift card program helped attract customers to his three businesses: Dewy Rose, D.S. Fisher’s and Down to Earth Health and Wellness.
“It was received very well. Everybody we told about it was excited about it,” Fisher said.
Shopper Kathryn Andrews said a program like this would make her inclined to shop downtown during construction.
“There’s a lot of construction going on in town and it makes it a little bit harder to get to and from stores sometimes, so if there was some extra little perk that would encourage me to shop, then absolutely,” Andrews said.
While the Shop Downtown Construction Gift Card Program has ended, the chamber will launch another gift card program for the holidays beginning the day after Thanksgiving.
