Submitted by Todd Little
As Coronado’s Free Shop Local Shuttles come to an end on New Year’s Day, I’d like to thank a number of individuals for supporting this initiative.
The Board of Directors of Discover Coronado deserve praise for fully funding the program that benefited not just our visiting groups but the entire community.
Dozens of local merchants and business owners offered space in their storefronts (and on their retail counter) to make window-shoppers aware of the free service.
Tom Ritter, Allie Scrivener and MTS Representative Bill Sandke provided great insight based on the City’s success with the Free Summer Shuttle. Janine Zuniga and Tony Perri provided valuable airtime on Coronado TV.
Lance Alspaugh at Village Theatre provided over 40 days of free promotion. He and his team played our 15-second video for the shuttles before each holiday movie began.
Sue Gillingham of the Coronado Chamber of Commerce helped to promote the usage of the Free Shop Local Shuttles then created viral programs to encourage local shopping.
Coronado MainStreet also provided timely promotional support during their Small Business Saturday programming.
Raindrop Marketing was compensated for developing the look of Free Shop Local Shuttles, but Jacques Spitzer and his team went beyond the call of duty with their detailed approach.
Thank you to the Coronado Police Department for reminding residents to use the shuttles in lieu of impaired driving.
It really does take a village. Numerous Coronado residents and local organizations united to raise awareness of the program. For the sake of brevity, I will use this opportunity to thank them collectively.
It will be several months before we receive sales tax receipts for the 2018 holiday season. My hope is that the Free Shop Local Shuttles maximized the holiday season for Coronado’s shops, restaurants and service providers.
Happy New Year,
Todd Little
Executive Director
Discover Coronado
