MILWAUKEE, Wis. – With the help of Visit Milwaukee, local Milwaukee businesses are offering a limited-time holiday promotion that doubles the value of gift card purchases through Christmas Eve, providing shoppers with extra spending power while supporting the community during a traditionally slow season.
Watch: Milwaukee businesses offer bonus gift cards to boost holiday sales
The campaign works like a buy-one-get-one-free deal for gift cards. Customers who spend $25 on a gift card at participating locations receive an additional $25 bonus gift card for that same business. The Visit Milwaukee Foundation makes the bonus gift cards possible.
"The winters are always a little bit slow. But yeah, this year, things have been slower than normal," said Andy Gehl, co-founder of Third Space Brewing, one of dozens of participating businesses.
Third Space Brewing has operated in Milwaukee for nearly 10 years and distributes beer across Wisconsin.
Gehl said rising production costs have pressured businesses, but many haven't wanted to raise prices. The holiday lull in business makes community support even more crucial.
"It's not just the dollars that businesses need right now, too. It's that support of people coming in the door and showing us and showing everyone else that people are still going out and having a good time and supporting because our brewery is a lot more fun place to be when it's packed with people having a good time," Gehl said.
The promotion aims to bring customers through the doors during an especially slow time of year while highlighting the importance of supporting local businesses.
"It shines a light on the fact that our local businesses probably do need a little extra love, and that we should be reminded to go and support local," Gehl said.
Participating businesses include retailers, restaurants, bars and cafes such as:
- 414loral
- AntetokounBros
- Bandit MKE
- Best Place at the Historic Pabst Brewery
- Cafe Corazon
- Casera Cafe & Bakery
- Cousins Subs
- Delicious Bites
- Eldr+Rime
- Flowers for Dreams
- Forage Kitchen
- The Friendship Circle of Wisconsin
- HoneyBee Sage Apothecary & Wellness Cafe
- Maxie's
- MobCraft Beer
- NorthSouth Club
- Oak Barrel Public House
- Pilot Project Brewing
- POP
- Red Lion Pub on Tannery Row
- Refresh Vintage
- Rise & Grind Cafe - King Drive
- Sprecher Brewery
- Sprocket Cafe
- Summer of '85
- Bronzeville Collective MKE
- Third Space Brewing
- Torzala Brewing Co.
- Urbaine Oasis Spa Boutique
- Who's on Third
- Wizard Works Brewing
The campaign runs until Christmas Eve, giving shoppers just over a week to take advantage of the doubled gift card value.
It’s about time to watch on your time. Stream local news and weather 24/7 by searching for “TMJ4” on your device.
Available for download on Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, and more.
