Women & Children First Partners With Toy Store for Holiday Promo

Women & Children First in the Andersonville neighborhood of Chicago has partnered with a local toy store, toys et cetera, for its own version of the cooperative holiday marketing campaign launched by the San Francisco Locally Owned Merchants Association at the beginning of December. Up until December 24, Women & Children First is offering its customers an added incentive to shop at toys et cetera, and the toy shop is doing the same to drive business to Women & Children First.

Ann Christophersen, co-owner of Women & Children First, said the partnership between her store and toys et cetera is a natural. During the Christmas shopping season, "many people are buying books for children," she said. "This promotion emphasizes the two businesses."

For the Andersonville promotion, the bookstore and the toy store each created 8-1/2" x 11" fliers advertising the promotion, and they're displaying them at the front door and at the cash/wrap. "Whenever there is a transaction, we ask our customers if they are buying any toys for Christmas," said Christophersen. The staff then provides information about the promotion and gives customers a coupon. "We also put the coupons for the toy store on the counter, too," she added. The toy store is marketing the promotion in the same manner.

The cross-marketing initiative started three weeks ago and runs through December 24. "It's going pretty well so far," Christophersen reported. "We've done a fair number of exchanges.... There is no question we're getting people into our store that otherwise would not have shopped here."

The flier that Women & Children First displays has the IndieBound logo and states: "A holiday offer from one independent to another.... Toys are gifts of comfort and joy.... This locally owned, indie bookstore invites you to visit a locally owned, indie toy store." The border of the poster adds "Play" to IndieBound's popular "Eat Sleep Read" tagline.

Christophersen said this kind of cross-promotion is what IndieBound is all about and is perfect for the Andersonville community. "Our store is in a commercial strip of our Chicago neighborhood, but it's a well-defined community," she said. "There are only a few chains among some 200 businesses. People are primed to shop in local communities and this continues to give them more reasons to support locally owned businesses."

At the next Board meeting of the Andersonville Chamber of Commerce (which is "totally indie business oriented"), Christophersen plans to "promote the idea of a coupon exchange" with more local businesses in the neighborhood to "up the level."

Last week, BTW reported on a similar promotion between Malaprop's Bookstore/Caf in Asheville, North Carolina, and a local bike store, Liberty Bicycles.--David Grogan