St. Petersburg kicked off Holiday Biz Bingo in the ‘Burg this week. The program brings shoppers to more than 260 local businesses through Dec. 31. Shoppers can grab bingo cards at participating stores, City Hall, and libraries, then collect stamps for visits and turn in completed rows for prizes.
Mayor Ken Welch and Rep. Kathy Castor stopped by participating stores on Tuesday to announce the program. The challenge features retail shops, health and wellness spaces, art storefronts, music storefronts, cafés, and restaurants across St. Pete.
“We’re a year into the recovery from Hurricanes Helene and Milton, and a lot of our small businesses are still recovering,” Welch said, according to Bay News 9.
Castor pointed out that tariffs, the rising cost of living, and potential increases in health insurance costs create hurdles. She said $68 of every $100 spent in town stays in town.
“In St. Pete, we know small businesses are the backbone of the economy,” Castor said, according to Bay News 9. “We don’t have a lot of large corporations, Fortune 500 companies. What makes our economy go are the small business owners who hustle every day.”
St. Pete City Councilman Copley Gerdes said the past year has been tough. “My wife’s family business took on three and a half feet from Helene,” Gerdes said, according to Fox 13. “We’re still cleaning up from that.”
Daddy Kool Records, a participating store that has been around in the Tampa Bay area for decades, faces competition from large retailers and online shopping. Ashley Griffith, marketing, tickets, and promotion manager, said the holiday season brings some of their biggest sales weeks.
“You have the ease of Amazon, you have the ease of Target, you have the ease of all these bigger corporations who are kind of affecting and hurting the local business economy,” Griffith said, according to Bay News 9.
Zac Arscott owns Taste of the Islands Restaurant. His family operation has stayed open since 1992 because of community support. “We’re very, very much glad for their support because without them, there would be no us,” Arscott said, according to Fox 13.
The National Retail Federation estimates that nearly 187 million people will shop from Thanksgiving Day through Cyber Monday. That would set a record. A Deloitte consumer survey found more people plan to shop but spending will drop by about four percentage points.