Shopping in SLO? Here’s how you can get free money from the city
People shopping in San Luis Obispo can take advantage of some free money this holiday season.
The city is partnering with the San Luis Obispo Chamber of Commerce to offer $20 gift cards to anyone who purchased $100 worth of items at small businesses in the city on or after Dec. 14.
To qualify, shoppers must have spent money at “a local retail, restaurant, fitness or personal service business in SLO,” the city said.
“The spirit of this program is to support small, local businesses that are struggling during this challenging time,” San Luis Obispo officials said in a news release.
The new program aims to help stimulate a local economy that has been deeply impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. The gift cards are being paid for through $200,000 of Measure G sales tax funds as part of a $3.4 million local stimulus allocation approved by the San Luis Obispo City Council earlier this month.
To earn gift cards, shoppers can email receipts to supportslo@slocity.org or drop them off in-person at the San Luis Obispo Chamber of Commerce Visitor Center at 895 Monterey St.
Shoppers are allowed to qualify for up to three separate times to receive a $20 gift card. The program is offering one card per month.
Businesses must be located within San Luis Obispo city limits to qualify for receipt qualification from shoppers and for program participation. Shopping may be done virtually or in stores currently limited to 20% capacity under state COVID-19 guidelines.
Some types of businesses that aren’t eligible for participation in the gift card program include big box stores; convenience and drug stores; grocery/supermarket; lodging and fueling or gas stations.
The program will continue on a month-by-month basis until the funds run out, according to city officials.
Gift cards don’t have to be used at the stores where shoppers accumulated $100 in receipts, said Jacqui Clark-Charlesworth, the San Luis Obispo chamber’s director of communications. Options for cards will come from a list of participating businesses.
Clark-Charlesworth said the list of options for gift cards will be provided once the receipts are logged.
To help guide shoppers, the city has created a virtual map of its small businesses.
Clark-Charlesworth said the gift cards are expected to result in people spending more money to support small businesses affected by COVID-19 and generate as much as $1 million in economic impacts.
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