Final Foray Brings Total to 82 Shopping Winners

Super Shopper Spotter's final "Shop the Village" foray came this afternoon in Downtown Oak Park.

Ducking out of the rain and slush, Triple S identified eight winners at spots like Shoe Soko and Competitive Foot (neither of which has anything to rival Triple S's audaciously bright red boots, we might add).

Among the businesses whose donated gift cards or certificates were distributed: Mancini's, Puree's and Pro Nails 2. In all, the program rewarded 82 shoppers as Triple S made 10 excursions all throughout the community.

Today alone, winners hailed from Ohio, Tennessee and New York--not to mention Oak Park and Melrose Park, where the final winner (pictured on right), Jo Dryjanski, resides.

During the campaign, winners hailed from more than 20 communities, with Oak Park the most common hometown, by far.

By the way, the final winner, Ms. Dryjanski, was selected as she approached the cash register at Scratch 'n' Sniff.

The location seemed a fitting spot to conclude the program, since it also served as the scene of the Super Shopper Spotter video (re-posted below for your amusement).



This marks the end of the second Shop the Village campaign. Anyone looking to visit the first campaign's web home, click here.

Meantime, Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and Super Shopper Spotter wishes to convey a big thank you to all of the businesses and business leaders that supported this fun four-week campaign. Oh, and keep on Shopping this Fantastic Village!

74 Winners So Far, Only 2 More Days to Go!

Seventy-four.

With only two days remaining in this season's Shop the Village campaign, that's the number of winners thus far who have received gift cards or certificates from a variety of participating businesses. Each of the gifts is a minimum $25 value, meaning the overall largesse from local merchants is approaching $2,000.

Triple S shrugged off the snow this evening and trekked along Oak Park Avenue from Lake Street to North Boulevard (along The Avenue Business District), making it a hotbed of customer-rewarding activity. By the time his work was done, 16 more winners had been chosen to bring the campaign tally to 74.

The first stop came at Red Hen Bread, where a young man's purchase of an Izzi beverage prompted Super Shopper Spotter to award a $25 gift card to Ten Thousand Villages in Downtown Oak Park.

You can see that video here:



On his journey, Triple S also descended on an Oak Park company's holiday party at top restaurant Cucina Paradiso--four of the roughly dozen in the party were randomly selected.

Enjoy some of the celebratory photos that came at Caribou Coffee, Anana's, Avenue Nail Spa and Cucina Paradiso (one of the strongest contributors to the Shop the Village campaign, with five gift card donations.

In addition to the aforementioned Ten Thousand Villages, donors whose gift certificates were bestowed tonight were:

Pioneer Press (one-year subscriptions to any of the weekly newspaper chain's publications);

Downtown Oak Park (the gift of choosing from a variety of DTOP merchants--the organization has generously provided 10 certificates in support of the Shop the Village campaign); and

Bead in Hand, a mainstay of the Arts District.

Even with all the outpouring to date, Super Shopper Spotter still has enough gift cards for at least one more shopper-rewarding excursion between now and Christmas Eve.

So if you see him strolling about and have anything at all on your shopping list, you may be in line to become the next Super Shopper that's spotted.

15 Winners Today; Overall Tally About 60

It was a big day today for "Shop the Village" with 15 winners spotted from all across the community.

This brings to roughly 60 the total of shoppers spotted, and rewarded with $25 gift cards to participating businesses. One especially loyal local shopper is Christie Kozlik, who hails from Wagga Wagga, Australia (she says there's a Walla Walla nearby).

Christie was spotted at Oak Park Antiques and reported shopping at a wide gamut of shops, particularly those in Downtown Oak Park.

A videotaped interview with Christie is immediately below, on the heels of her winning a TGI Friday's gift certificate. That's also her in the photo above, with her winnings.



And further below are a few other winners, including one, Fran Arnold of Oak Park, who was glad to have her haircut interrupted briefly so she could win a Trader Joe's gift card.

7 More Winners on Monday Night

Triple S spotted seven more winners on Monday night, culminating with a customer at Mancini's before he sat down for a meal with his family.

Super Shopper Spotter has to eat, too, to keep up his visual and gift-giving prowess!

One of the more intriguing moments came outside the Lake Theatre, when Triple S observed Andrea Pedraza of Berwyn (above) standing in line with her family.

Her reward: a $25 Bright Ideas gift certificate. The business, in case you didn't realize, is a popular Oak Park Avenue spot where teachers and parents purchase school-related supplies. Pedraza's profession: school teacher.

Also pictured in this post is Frank Yurasek of Oak Park, identified at The Booktable and rewarded with a Wonder Works Children's Museum gift certificate. Frank is a grandfather, so he knows exactly what to do with his winnings.

Videos from throughout the Shop the Village campaign are at the Shop the Village channel on YouTube.

Ten More Winners Today...Nearly 40 Overall

It was a busy day for "Shop the Village" on Saturday, as 10 customers received $25 certificates from a variety of participating businesses throughout Oak Park.

Of the 10 prizes, four were $25 gift cards to Trader's Joe (which has contributed six overall) and two were for Trattoria 225, the fine restaurant in the Arts District. (Though participation requires only one gift card, some merchants are opting to give multiple prizes.)

One especially fun moment occurred at Snip City, 819 S. Oak Park Ave., where salon owner Pasquale Russo was in the midst of an appointment with Sara Hamilton of Oak Park when Triple S came on the scene. That's the trio in the photo above.

Immediately below is one video from the day's excursion, at Wonder Works, the Children's Museum on North Avenue. More videos are at the Shop the Village channel on YouTube.




Videos to follow, but for now, below are some other snapshots from today's outing.

Joining Shoppers in Braving The Elements

On Thursday, even sub-zero wind chills couldn't stop people from patronizing businesses in Oak Park--or Super Shopper Spotter from spotting them.

He tapped four winners: one came shortly after 5 p.m. at Trattoria 225 in the Arts District and features a video that you can see below.

Two winners were spotted at the Village Players Theatre's holiday party (one, pictured below, was John Reardon of Oak Park, who won an Oak Park Visitors Center certificate).

And one came at La Bella Pasteria (above, from among a large dinner party) near downtown. Trader Joe's, which contributed six gift cards to the "Shop the Village" effort, saw its first gift card shared in the La Bella encounter.

Entering this weekend, 25 gift cards have been shared with shoppers....and much more activity is in store for the Dec. 11-12 weekend period, so keep an eye out to try to spot Triple S before he spots you! The campaign lasts through Thursday, Dec. 24.

Enjoy below the two videos from the Thursday night outing:

Overview For Businesses Seeking to Participate

Participation is simple for any retail establishment that wants to be part of the “Shop the Village” promotion.

Each participating business:

1. Contributes a $25 gift card/gift certificate to the program.

Each reward must be a $25 gift certificate (or gift card) with no expiration date. Each participating merchant needs to provide only one (1) gift certificate/card, though some are providing more and are thereby gaining additional exposure.

The gift cards are given to random shoppers by Super Shopper Spotter (program coordinator Matt Baron). Those shoppers are photographed and, in some cases, videotaped to publicize the businesses involved in the program.

2. Distributes “Shop the Village” stickers to shoppers that come into their business.

You can also share them with non-shoppers—Super Shopper Spotter will award gift cards only to those whom he has spotted making a purchase of any amount.

3. Receives mention on the “Shop the Village” website as well as in news releases about the program.

4. Benefits from promotional support through the end of December, including VOP Channel 6, the program website (www.shopthevillage.biz) and the program YouTube channel (www.youtube.com/shopthevillageop)

On December 2, WGN TV aired a segment featuring Super Shopper Spotter identifying a customer who won a $25 gift card inside Marion Street Cheese Market. A number of other participating businesses have gained mention in local media in full-page ads in the Wednesday Journal as well as at Triblocal.com.

Want to join in the “Shop the Village” program? Here’s what you need to do next:

Drop off your gift card and pick up stickers and promotional posters at the Downtown Oak Park office at 1010 Lake St., Suite 114. Call the DTOP office at 708-383-4145 to make arrangements.

(If you are part of a group of businesses that want to be involved, you can appoint one person to handle the drop-off and pick-up duties.)

Any questions? Contact Matt Baron at 708-860-1380 or
Matt@InsideEdgePR.com