Iowa City Downtown District launches rewards program

The Iowa City Downtown District has launched a new customized shopping incentive platform, “Local Rewards,” which is a loyalty program intended to reward customers who repeatedly shop at stores in the program.

The more a customer buys or engages with a store, the more points they can redeem for discounts, free products, rewards, or inside perks, according to a news release.

The rewards program intentionally brands local stores together to encourage additional customers to the program. All customers on the loyalty program will have access to other stores’ reward programs and will receive bonus points for signing on to each.

Each store on the program will customize their offerings to patrons independently and customers with points at one store will be able to redeem them at that store. Customers can’t redeem points earned from one store at a different one.

As part of the Local Rewards launch, the downtown district has announced a series of “Downtown Double Rewards” days. The first will help kick off shopping for Mother’s Day and others will support other shopping opportunities throughout the year.

Downtown Double Rewards are planned for the second Tuesday of each month for participating stores starting May 9 and including June 13, July 11, Aug. 8, Sept. 12, Oct. 10, Nov. 14 and Dec. 12. Double rewards are for in-store purchases only.

The following stores are participating in the rewards program:

Other businesses to be added soon:

Customers interested in joining the district’s loyalty program and Double Rewards opportunities can sign on at localrewardsic.com.

Local Rewards is an add-on service of the downtown district’s for local Iowa City stores and downtown “second” stores. The district provides the service for a monthly fee to each participating business to help cover the costs of the overall program.

Interested local Iowa City retailers, restaurants, and cultural venues can sign up by contacting Christopher Hunter at christopher@downtowniowacity.com. The fees are:

For more information regarding the Downtown District’s retail investments, find program details at downtowniowacity.com/do-business.

Comments: (319) 398-8318; trish.mehaffey@thegazette.com