Businesses Offering Incentives To Stay Local

Adrianna Iwasinski, News 9

OKLAHOMA CITY -- One local group is giving consumers an incentive to shop local during the holiday season.

The group "Keep it Local OK" said membership to their card definitely has its privileges, and now more and more businesses are signing up to be part of the "Keep It Local" campaign.

Most of the stores at NorthPark Mall are locally owned and are doing what they can to lure in holiday business, but now six of them have joined the Keep It Local OK movement.

Lime Leopard co-owner Lindsay Davis said she's seen lots of benefits since signing up with Keep It Local OK three months ago.

"It has definitely brought in a new customer base, people who they say it's important to keep it local as well, and that is a message we try to spread throughout the community," Davis said.

Bryce Bandy is the co-creator of Keep It Local OK and said they started the local movement a year ago.

"We had seen some other programs like that around the country and we thought man, why isn't anyone doing that here?" Bandy said.

Since then they've sold 3,000 cards and signed up almost 80 local businesses around the metro thanks to the Keep It Local website and twitter feed.

"Absolutely, social media, Facebook and Twitter has really been a huge part of the local movement in OKC," Bandy said.

Chad Huntington is the owner of The Red Dirt Emporium and has been a member from the start. He said Keep It Local OK has helped the Red Dirt Emporium get the word out about its unique Oklahoma offerings in Bricktown and has done the same for other members too.

"I think that Keep It Local if you stick to those retailers and those restaurants you get so much more local flavor and it ends up being a better deal not only for the shops but also for the consumer," Huntington said.

The Keep It Local cards cost $10 dollars are available at several participating Keep It Local businesses or online on the Keep It Local website.