October 2003
Plymouth Area Chamber of Commerce
Gift Certificates
One of the various functions of your Plymouth Area Chamber of Commerce is to be a part of the process in creating ideas that will promote our Chamber member area businesses. Most of the ideas find life through the various committees that are a part of the fabric of this Chamber.
An idea that was developed several years ago is the Chamber Gift Certificates, sometimes referred to as Chamber Bucks.
What follows is the pertinent information as to how this program works.
There is now a new addition to this service… gift certificates may now be ordered online from the Chamber's web site. From our web front page, see the sample gift certificate icon and click.
This Gift Certificate program is very easy and safe to use.
The certificate(s) may be ordered from the Chamber office and online by any person or company, and be presented as general gifts or perhaps, as part of an employee bonus program. There is no cost above the face value dollar amount of the certificate. The purchaser picks up the certificate(s) ordered at the Chamber office (120 N. Michigan St.) and payment to the Plymouth Chamber is cash or check (sorry, no plastic).
The gift certificate is a legal check, purchased by the “gift giver” and can be accepted by any participating Chamber business with the same confidence as a cashiers check or as cash.
The certificates are individually typed with the pertinent information - the dollar amount (up to $ 100.00, per certificate), the recipient's name, if applicable, and a greeting or the name of either an individual or the company giving the gift certificate(s).
Each certificate is then placed in an envelope along with a cover letter and the list of participating Chamber member businesses. The recipient of the gift certificate then chooses from this list of Chamber member businesses the business or businesses from which to make their purchase or purchases.
The participating Chamber member merchant treats this form of tender just as they would any cash transactions. Although these may “look” like a second party check since they may be personalized to the recipient, and must be endorsed like a second party check, these are pre-purchased gift certificates. The money goes directly into one bank account specifically for gift certificate purposes only, thus making these checks “as good as cash”. The merchant therefore may treat these like cash and may make change just as if he or she has received cash. The whole check amount is then deposited like any other check in the merchant's business account.
These gift certificates will bring new and previous customers to the participating store… a form of advertising dollars that Plymouth Area Chamber of Commerce member merchants do not have to expend.
Enclosed with this NewsMonth is our current list of participating members. (Click here) If your business is not listed and you want to participate, please call us at 936-2323 and have us add your business to the list. If for any reason you no longer wish to participate, let us know and we will remove your listing.
These past several years there has been a tremendous increase in the purchase of Chamber gift certificates. Hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of these “Chamber Bucks” have been in circulation over the Christmas Holidays. A vast number of these certificates are purchased by many of Plymouth's Industrial businesses for their employees. And throughout the year, individuals purchase gift certificates as gifts of all types.
We sincerely hope that the Plymouth Area Chamber of Commerce members will take advantage of this program, both as gift givers and especially as participating businesses. It is a great way to give and a great way to keep our member businesses in the public's spending loop.
This is a great way to “Shop Plymouth First!” |
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