Dear Downtown Winnipeg BIZ Member,

Sign up to accept Downtown Winnipeg Gift Cards today!

You may recall, we are launching a Downtown Winnipeg gift card to help encourage shopping at businesses in our zone. Think of it like a mall gift card, but for downtown: one card allows the shopper to use it at multiple stores, restaurants and service providers.

If you’re interested in getting set up to receive the gift cards, you can do it now. Several businesses have already started this onboarding process. If you’d like to set up your business to accept the gift card yourself, you can do so easily by visiting the the online gift card registry.

More information:

• The gift card works just like a VISA card so if you are equipped to accept VISA payments, you will be able to accept the Downtown Winnipeg gift card once the set-up process is complete

• The gift card program and any corresponding promotions will be funded by the Downtown Winnipeg BIZ

• There is no cost to Downtown Winnipeg BIZ members to participate

As a downtown community, we’re stronger together, which is why we want as many downtown businesses to participate in the program as possible. Visit the online gift card registry to get started.

Big crowds could mean more customers

November is a busy month for in-person events downtown. With nine Jets games, Moose games and theatre shows, more people will be heading downtown. This could mean more Winnipeggers dining at downtown restaurants, shopping at downtown stores and watching games at downtown bars.

Do you want to run a promotion through November to help attract customers? Share it with us! We want to promote what you are doing through our marketing channels (the Mingle e-newsletter, website, social media) to help encourage shopping, dining and enjoying downtown.

Here are some promo ideas:

• A meal special (e.g. a burger and a beer at a discounted price)

• Themed meals (e.g. a “Slapshot Sampler Platter”)

• Game day discounts

• Complimentary event parking in your lot for eating dinner at your restaurant/shopping at your store (if applicable)

• Expanded hours during game days (if applicable)

Send our Marketing & Communications Coordinator an email (saz@downtownwinnipegbiz.com) with your promo so we can add it to our upcoming November promos webpage. Tag us in your social media posts/Stories and we will do our best to spread the word.

What’s happening downtown in November:

• 9 Winnipeg Jets home games at Canada Life Centre

• 5 Manitoba Moose home games at Canada Life Centre

• 6 concerts at the Burton Cummings Theatre

• 2 MB Opera concerts at the Centennial Concert Hall (Nov. 5 & 6)

• Satinder Sartaaj concert at the Centennial Concert Hall (Nov. 14)

• Beethoven’s Fifth & Crozman Plays Elgar by WSO at the Centennial Concert Hall (Nov. 20)

• City & Colour concert at the Centennial Concert Hall (Nov. 30)

• Nightly plays at Prairie Theatre Exchange & Royal MTC

Save the date for our Annual General Meeting!

To make our 2021 Annual General Meeting accessible to all members, we’re planning on holding both an in-person and live-streamed event. Members will have to be in attendance (in-person or online) to vote.

Day: Thursday
Date: November 18, 2021
Time: 11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.
Location: to be determined

We will provide more information as soon as it’s available.

As always, please don't hesitate to reach out with any questions:
204-958-4640
info@downtownwinnipegbiz.com

Thank you,

Kate Fenske, CEO
Downtown Winnipeg BIZ