A Kennewick business owner wasn’t too

surprised when 60 Tri-City businesses stepped up to participate in a grassroots

“shop local’ initiative prompted by Mother Nature’s snowfall.

“I think it’s something that I have

seen so many times here — these instances of camaraderie among small

businesses,” said Olivia Berg, owner of BlankSpace, a Kennewick event venue.

“I’m always so impressed.”

The February blizzard forced the closure

of schools, offices and businesses, and it was devastating to many small

businesses’ bottom lines, Berg said.

Many Tri-City shops suffered from a

“huge drop in sales and foot traffic,” while also being slapped with extra

expenses for utilities and snow removal, Berg said.

So she hatched a plan to drum up

support for them by launching a weeklong challenge to shop local, called “Shop

Not Snow.”

Businesses could sign up for free to

participate, but had to agree to donate a $20 gift certificate as a prize for

one lucky shopper.

Here’s how it works: Shoppers can pick

up a Shop Not Snow card — BlankSpace printed 2,000 of them — and must visit

five different participating businesses.  No purchase is required, but it

is strongly encouraged, Berg said. Visitors must then collect a signature from

the businesses to enter the drawing for $1,200 in gift cards.

Pick up the campaign cards at The

Local, a coffee shop inside BlankSpace at 5453 Ridgeline Drive, Suite 140, and

at 8530 W. Gage Blvd., Suite E, both in Kennewick.

  “I hope people will really support this

movement and patronize these participating businesses,” Berg said. “Someone is

going to win over $1,000 in gift cards from local businesses, which is

awesome.”

Kurt Stone, manager of Hi-Land Garage

in Kennewick, said his auto repair shop is offering a free oil change, valued

at $40.

“I thought it was a cool idea. One, I

like to support other small businesses in our area, and two, I just think it’s

a great way to get free stuff out to people,” he said. “It’s just a good way of

advertising, too.”

The snow did affect Hi-Land because

people didn’t want to drive in the snow and had to cancel appointments, Stone

said. The snow also “slows us down” as employees have to de-ice cars before

they can be worked on and maintain the parking lot and driveways.

“It was a lot more work with not as

much volume of stuff coming through. I worked half days, from 6 a.m. to 6

p.m.,” Stone laughed.

Stone is a fan of supporting local

small businesses, too, saying $10 spent in town helps put braces on someone’s

kid instead of going into a corporate CEO’s pocket.

Berg said there’s a great diversity of

participating businesses in the Shop Not Snow campaign, from clothing stores to

restaurants and coffee shops, to wineries.

“The whole purpose is to generate

revenue and some fun exposure for those businesses,” she said.

Berg said the snowfall didn’t

negatively affect her business, as her customers book the BlankSpace venue

months in advance.

But it did mean additional expenses,

like extra snow removal costs.

“Our snow removal bill is hundreds and

hundreds of dollars in months we have snow like this,” she said.

She said two years ago, it was $800.

She hasn’t received February’s bill yet.

“For a small business, it’s a big chunk

of change,” she said.

All Shop Not Snow cards must be turned

into either location of The Local by March 20 for the prize drawing.

For a list of participating businesses, go to shopnotsnow.com/tc.