In the 2006 Winter Holiday Season, it paid to shop locally in the Jersey City Heights. The Central Avenue Special Improvement District (CASID) ran a sweepstakes program to reward twenty five (25) lucky shoppers with gift certificates adding up to $1,000 to spend on Central Avenue.
Without advertising this promotion beyond the 240 storefront windows and checkout counters on Central Avenue, an estimated 1,170 entries were collected into the contest over a three week span. Duplicated entry forms were extracted and disqualified from the contest before the count up. Gift Certificates were issued in small disbursements allowing winners to spend their prizes in more than one place. These shoppers were more than delighted to receive such an unexpected gift just in time for the holiday shopping season.
In addition the winners were asked to be judges in the CASID’s 2nd Annual Shoppers Choice Awards for Best Holiday Storefront Windows. This contest was designed to recognize the efforts of the business owners who take the time to decorate their storefront window in the most creative and eye catching manner. The judges selected the best five (5) storefront windows decorated during the holiday season.
This year’s Shopper’s Choice Awards were granted to:
1st. Place – Kennedy Department Store 270 Central Avenue
2nd Place – Fragrance & Accessories 346 Central Avenue
3rd Place – Gino’s Restaurant 380 Central Avenue
Honorable Mentions: Jersey City Florist 286 Central Avenue & Podewitz Liquors 402 Central Avenue.
The CASID would like to thank all our sweepstakes winners, and local residents for continuing to support the local business community. In addition we would like to congratulate those businesses who have successfully caught the attention of their shopper’s with such beautiful storefront decorations. Together we have created a wonderful holiday atmosphere for residents and shoppers of Jersey City.