Madison Wisconsin pushes Buy Local Gift Cards

Madison Wisconsin pushes Buy Local Gift Cards

Gift Cards work at over 200 local merchants

It was not lost on the Madison Wisconsin chamber of commerce that gift cards had become a $80 billion industry. Gift Cards ease and convenience had expanded rapidly on the success of gift certificates and the cards were selling rapidly at convenient stores across the city. The opportunity/challenge they saw was that all the cards were being sold for national merchants such as iTunes gift cards, Nordstrom gift cards, Zappos gift cards and more.

In a savvy move, and with the help of a local bank, Dane County buy local made 300 gift cards that could be redeemed at over 200 Madison merchants. The cards sold out right away and more needed to be ordered. Within a month, over $14,000 in local Madison gift cards had been sold. Certainly this local model should be utilized throughout the country. Gift Cards are here to stay and are only gong to grow in popularity.

This is a fantastic way to spread the wealth to smaller businesses as well.