Argyle neighbourhood issues ‘currency’ cards to attract shoppers | CBC News

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The Argyle Business Improvement Association (BIA) has launched a new gift card program with the hopes of giving a boost to businesses in east London and showing new shoppers what’s on offer.

Twenty businesses are participating in the project so far, from restaurants to hair dressers and flower shops. The program is funded through a grant from the city’s community recovery network.

“It’s a great program for the east end and hopefully it’ll keep people shopping local,” said Donna Moerenhout, owner of Razors Barber Shop on Dundas Street East. 

“It’s good that they’re supporting the small business in the area. I think it’s great,” she said.

woman sits by a barber chair
Donna Moerenhout is the owner of Razors Barber Shop in London’s Argyle neighbourhood. (Argyle BIA)

The funds on the cards don’t expire and are non-reloadable. The Argyle BIA sees them as a way to provide gift cards for small businesses who may not have the resources themselves.

“We think it’ll have a tremendous impact on local businesses,” said Bethany Mejia, executive director for the Argyle BIA. 

“We thought what better way to show love to our neighbourhood than providing its own currency that it can use in the community to see those echo impacts go further,” she said. 

‘We have a big heart in our neighbourhood’

“We are called the heart of east London,” said Mejia. “We have a big heart in our neighbourhood.”

Lina Marie Phillips agrees.

“It’s got heart,” said the owner of Craklins Best Fish & Chips on Third Street. “Argyle is its own small town. Everything is right there in the heart of Argyle.”

woman stirs batter
Lina Marie Phillips is the owner of Craklins Fish & Chips in London’s Argyle neighbourhood. (Argyle BIA)

The gift cards are also a way for their business to give back by purchasing them as incentives for employees, . 

“Shopping local helps all of us,” she said. She hopes more people will check out Argyle and see what the storefronts, markets and small businesses have to offer, she said. 

The new gift cards come alongside Argyle’s plan to make the neighbourhood more pedestrian-friendly through a community improvement plan. The hope there is also to bring foot traffic inside local stores.

The neighbourhood borders Oxford Street to the north, Highbury Road to the west, the Thames River to the south and city boundaries to the east.

The gift cards are available through the Argyle BIA online and at their office at 1815 Dundas St in London.

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