Detroit nonprofit encourages shopping local with gift card giveaway

(CBS DETROIT) – The biggest shopping weekend of the year is upon us, and Black Leaders Detroit wants to ensure that your dollar stays local.

“We know that some of these entrepreneurs and small businesses can’t compete when it comes to marketing budgets we’re looking to bring customers to them and what we do is we provide the first $50 dollars for them to go and shop,” said Dwan Dandridge, CEO or Black Leaders Detroit. 

This is the fourth year Black Leaders Detroit has hosted the giveaway. On Friday, they gave out 300 $50 gift cards for local businesses to encourage people to shop local.

“I think it’s awesome, giving back to the community and not only that the stakeholders in these businesses we have a lot in common so when we go in and see goods these are things we’ve been looking for anyway,” said Patsy Wigley, who received a gift card on Friday. 

The average shopper is expected to spend $1,000 across the country, according to RetailMeNot. 

For Clement Brown, who owns Three Thirteen, an apparel store on Livernois the combination of encouraging people to shop local and getting them started with a gift card means a big difference in sales. 

“It’s totally night and day from a regular Friday in our store we probably do three to four times more than what we normally would,” he said. 

Elle Meyers

Elle Meyers joined the CBS News Detroit team in April of 2023 after spending two years covering Michigan’s capitol. Elle is an Oregon native and a graduate of the University of Oregon (go Ducks!), where she double majored in journalism and political science, both of which have served her well in her journey to Detroit.