A new initiative in downtown Lakeland, involving a shoelace, will hopefully bring more shoppers to the area.
A company called Qgiv came up with the idea for businesses to pass out orange shoelaces to their customers. Each customer will then wear the shoelaces to show that they shopped local.
“For me, it’s when you see it, it just reminds you that we don’t need to go to the big box stores," said The Black Swan Bazaar owner, Yvonne Aguero. "Let’s first find out if there’s something local and small that your neighbor owns to help them out first.”
David Collins’ wife got her splash of color while shopping at a small business.
“I like doing business with people I know in a small atmosphere where you can have discussions with them about the product,” Collins said.
It’s a concept local store owners like Aguero are hoping will catch on with the help of the orange shoelace.
“What I’m hoping is that people in the surrounding downtown Lakeland areas, the north and the south will catch on and start coming to their downtown," Aguero said. "It’s beautiful here. It’s a secret gem.”
Qgiv came up with the idea just in time for the holiday season.
“We’ve been working on this nonstop to get it launched in time for the holidays because it’s the biggest retail month of the year and we thought it’s now,” Qgiv spokeswoman, Ekho Powell said. “So many people are thinking about charities. It’s also nice to think about who supports the charities more than just this time of year and that is the small locally owned businesses.”
Several businesses in downtown Lakeland are participating. All shoppers have to do is make a purchase to get it. And for a discount at some stores, just have the orange shoelace on display.