Black Diamond merchants recovering from last spring’s shutdown are joining a Town initiative that’s expected to bring more business into their shops.
Economic development staff with the Town of Black Diamond spearheaded the Find the Diamond contest, where shoppers look for a diamond image in 53 participating stores and post selfies with it on their Instagram account while tagging @town_of_blackdiamond and #ShopBlackDiamond throughout the month of August.
The winner, randomly drawn in early September among 31 entries, will receive a gift basket with more than 25 prizes including zoo passes, camp chairs, gift certificates, mugs and chocolate.
“It encourages people to come out and have a look at their local businesses and it engages them with the Town’s new Instagram account,” Shelley Broadley, Black Diamond economic development and planning assistant, said of the contest.
Broadley said the Town recently launched an Instagram account to connect with its younger demographic.
“Instagram seems to be more focused on the younger age bracket than Facebook,” she said. “We’re trying to make sure we’re communicating with all of our demographics from younger teens to seniors.”
In addition to increasing exposure to its Instagram account, Broadley said Find the Diamond is a great boost to Black Diamond businesses now that they’ve reopened.
“We are seeing a lot of people from Calgary and surrounding areas using Black Diamond as a destination or stop through to camping or hiking destinations like the Sheep River Falls or Sandy McNabb… because they’re able to still maintain physical distancing and enjoy something outside of the city,” she said. “They’re looking for quick, local walkable hiking paths that are family friendly and they’re coming through Black Diamond and shopping. I’ve never seen it this busy before.”
Find the Diamond participant Robert Cotton, owner of Chocolate by Cotton, said he’s noticed a significant increase in customers this year over last.
Cotton, who reopened his candy store in June, said June and the first half of July before the temperatures started to climb were so busy that the two busy weeks in July provided enough revenue for him to pay his bills for the month.
“I’ve noticed an influx this year over last year with Calgarians,” he said. “They say they’re out for the weekend or the day and they happened to spot the chocolate shop and come in.”
When the temperatures soared into the high 20s and low 30s, business came to a standstill.
“My business is heat sensitive,” he said. “When the temperatures hit the 30s nobody wants chocolate. It melts in your hand.”
For Cotton, participating in Find the Diamond is a way to raise awareness around his business.
“It’s a good way to gain attention for those who don’t realize I’m here,” he said. “I will have a conversation at least once a month with people in the surrounding area who say, ‘I didn’t know you were here.’ Maybe this will break people out of their normal routine of where they shop.”
Rollick Co. co-owner Colin Fleming has also noticed a surge in business this year over last and, like Cotton, he hopes participating in Find the Diamond will bring even more awareness to his bicycle shop.
“I want to promote our business, as well as encourage people to shop locally,” he said.
Fleming increased his business profile in April after offering free tune-ups for children’s bikes. He started his home-based business a year ago.
“We had more sales in April with that free tune-up initiative than we did all of last year,” he said. “For two months I worked seven days a week, 10 hours a day and did over 100 kids bikes for free. That said, most of those bikes needed new tubes, tires and brakes so there was revenue there.”
Last spring, the Town of Black Diamond implemented a program where diamond images were placed in the windows of shops and restaurants once they reopened after the COVID-19 shutdown.
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