Local Gifts, Shopping Appointments and BYOB  🎁

Unlike many previous years, Q4/20 looks as odd as this entire year has been. We’ve got stay-at-home rollbacks and safer-at-home restrictions poppin’ up faster than COVID-related hospitalizations. Simultaneously, some parts of the country are opening up new venues, waiving extension-of-premise fees and encouraging more streeteries. We’re literally witnessing a transformative moment on the confluence of technology/e-commerce and the practical applications in our lives during a pandemic-suppressed holiday season. It’s a weird and wild December, and the solstice is just a few weeks away. Learn a new acronym for BYOB, how shopping appointments work, world-class holiday placemaking and why we love Next City and Local First Arizona so much. It’s all here, wrapped up with a gorgeous socially-distanced bow in your 18^th edition of Bright Brothers’ COVID Notes on Response & Recovery, peeps!

– Your Bright Brothers Team

From yurts and igloos, to inflatable options and BYOB (bring your own blanket), restaurants are desperately trying to comply with sometimes-muddy guidelines and enforcement; all in an attempt to capture any remaining revenues before winter puts the northern U.S. on ice. As Arizona comes “into season” the scenario is distinctly different and the City of Chandler AZ is now allowing additional streeteries and waiving some fees to entice foot traffic. It’s a mixed bag across the board, and there is no national guidance how to approach things. Learn how the “Indoorification of Outdoors” is shaping up across the nation. Has your community has seen any wins with the changing of the seasons?
We’d love to hear from you!

Photo credit: Social Cut, Unsplash
 

An excellent example of holiday shopping in a time of pandemic is locally-owned Occaisionette Gifts & Goods ; and probably THE cutest gift shop you’ll ever wanna visit. With locations in South Philadelphia’s swanky Passyunk neighborhood (pronounced: Pah-shunk and affectionally known locally as “P’unk”), as well as a flagship shop and a pop-up holiday “Joy Shop” just over the river in toney Collingswood, NJ. These adorable purveyors of all things “cute” are a magnet for stroller moms, suburban party planners and lovers of distinctive décor. We’re giving them a nod because, just as we recommended in our November 2020 Trends Report, the proprietors are smartly offering safe and socially-distanced $15 shopping appointments. Shoppers are guaranteed a 25 minute appointment (with no lines and no spreaders looking over your shoulder), and the deposit is applied to your purchase. It’s an innovative pivot that locks-in timed revenue, and we love to see it.

Photo credit: Occaisionette Gifts & Goods

…next week is Next City’s BIG annual “Solutions of the Year” event.  Naturally, it’s virtual this year and includes four days of live events that “…will introduce you directly to the practitioners and writers from our editors’ picks for the 20 best solutions of 2020”. This year’s theme is a pointed, and much needed dialogue around the fight for racial equity and justice, and of course COVID impact and response. We’re HUGE fans of the hard-hitting journalism and insightful articles this organization produces. So much so, that we decided to sponsor this year’s event. Take a gander at the roster and please register if you can. They’re such a great org, doing solid work that benefits all of us!

Photo credit: Work Program Architects 

In our estimation, Downtown Norfolk is “the little city that could”.  This adorable, historic downtown is home to many firsts and boasts a long and rich maritime history. It also plays host to the some of the best holiday placemaking activations we’ve seen – on par with cities much larger in size, population and budgets. The whip smart team of a few capable players at Downtown Norfolk program scads of events and activation that create a boatload of holiday joy for locals, tourists and ratepayers alike. A revered annual parade, holiday markets, ice skating, a themed Holiday Movie Food & Drink Week, and a competitive “Great Hot Cocoa War” all drive foot traffic and revenues to downtown businesses – and they continue to innovate every year! Full disclosure, they’re our client, but they genuinely put on one of the best series of non-stop holiday spectaculars with substantiated results and superior community engagement that we’ve ever seen. Happy Holidays from Mermaid City, USA!

Photo credit: Downtown Norfolk

Most people (say they) love to shop local, but putting their dollars where their mouth is can be another story entirely. As ardent fans and years-long members of Local First Arizona, we have to give props for launching this Shop Arizona Marketplace – just in time for the holidays. The thoughtfully designed website features fully-integrated e-commerce, and boasts a hand-picked selection of Arizona’s coolest indie purveyors and products from around the Grand Canyon State. A gift registry builder extends the life of the site well beyond Q4; creating an evergreen online opportunity for shoppers to vote with their wallets for upcoming weddings, housewarmings, new babies and more. Give them a gander and say season’s greetings with something meaningful, while also helping a small business survive and thrive during this pandemic. 

Photo credit: Local First Arizona