i-Shop opens doors in Stamford Downtown

i-Shop opens doors in downtown Stamford

By CHASE WRIGHT

The Hour Staff Writer


i-Shop, you shop, we all shop -- in downtown Stamford.

That's at least the hope of Stamford's Downtown Special Services District (DSSD), which launched a new initiative Monday aimed at bringing in business for city merchants.

i-Shop is a wallet-sized premium discount card that can be used at more than 60 restaurants, theaters, hotels and shops in downtown Stamford. The i-Shop card is free of charge to residents of all communities and can be obtained by logging onto the DSSD Web site at http://www.stamford-downtown.com.

"In a difficult economy, marketing together, working together, has a positive impact," said former Mayor Dannel Malloy, who formally welcomed the card Monday, along with a crowd of downtown merchants who gathered outside the Avon Theater on Bedford Street.

Several merchants brought with them to the Avon what makes their businesses unique, including John Galdino of Tacos Guadalajara on Atlantic Street, who dressed in a black mariachi suit, along with his brother George, who hid his face under a leather wrestler's mask.

"We're like the Mexican Partridge family," joked John Galdino.

"The purpose of this is to get people to shop locally," said Jacqueline Wetenhall, director of retail development for the DSSD.

The i-Shop card is valid through the summer until Oct. 31, 2009 when the promotional offer expires. All 62 participating businesses are offering patrons a 10 percent discount for their purchase, or an alternative premium.

Kona Grill at 230 Tresser Blvd., for example, is offering customers one free entree with the purchase of any full-priced entree on the menu, said manger Ken Martin.

"It's essentially a buy one, get one free deal," he said.

Restaurants aren't the only the businesses participating in the deal. The Bridal Suite, Connecticut Cigar Company, Downtown Golf, and the Marriott Hotel are also represented, along with a number of other retail shops.

"There's really quite a collection," said Malloy. "You've got a little bit of everything."

Also represented is the entertainment industry in downtown Stamford, including the Avon Theatre Film Center, where the i-Shop announcement was made.

"All of us in downtown Stamford, we all need to help each other out," said Louisa Green, director of development and marketing at the Avon Theatre. "Eat, shop and play local is really the theme behind this."

The i-Shop initiative comes at the heels of DSSD's announcement that their Alive @ Five concerts, beginning June 25 at Columbus Park in Stamford, will now cost patrons $5 for admission.

Last year's concerts drew huge, and often rowdy crowds in downtown Stamford, and despite the new charge and added rules, DSSD is expecting the same type of turnout.

"It's going to be a great summer," said Wetenhall.