No place like Oxford

Dorothy’s not in Kansas anymore. She’ll be in Oxford Village at least until the not-so-yellow M-24 road is finished late this year.

Every week until November, a cutout of Dorothy and her loyal companion, Toto, will travel to a different village business, posing for photos and giving participants a chance to win a $20 gift card.
Shopper can snap a selfie with Dorothy, post it on Facebook, and tag Downtown Oxford, the business and #TheresNoPlaceLikeOxford. Then fill out an entry form and drop it in the box. Each Thursday, one winner will be randomly drawn for a $20 gift card.
Dorothy began her journey at Holy Cross Oxford on Feb. 28. She will be at Apothecary & Co. until Thursday afternoon, when the first weekly drawing will be made.
Village businesses wishing to host Dorothy have until Thursday, March 12 to sign up.
The promotion will run in conjunction with a monthly #ShopOxford campaign. For every $10 spent at a village business, shoppers can receive one ticket to enter a monthly drawing for a chance to win $250.
Shoppers should keep their receipts and take them to the Village Offices or Boulevard Boutique to redeem tickets for the raffle. Receipts must be redeemed by 5 p.m. on the first Wednesday of the month to be included in that month’s drawing. Drawings will be the first Thursday of the month, beginning April 2. The last drawing will be Nov. 5.
Entries from both campaigns will be entered to win a $1,000 grand prize in December.
The promotion is not just for businesses in the downtown area, but they must be within the village. Entrants must be 18 or older to participate.
Congratulations to Heidi Haight, Gretchen Dallas and Angela Alksninis, who each won $100 gift cards for last month’s Dine Out Oxford promotion, by posting pictures of their restaurant meals to social media.
The promos are part of the Downtown Development Authority’s efforts to support business during the M-24 construction project this year.
“Our intent is to reward people for doing what they’ve always done, which is shop downtown,” and “to bring people into the community who may not always be in the community every day” said DDA Director Glenn Pape in a presentation at the State of Community Breakfast on Feb. 20.
The M-24 project “is designed to minimize disruption to the businesses,” according to Pape. MDOT is maintaining pedestrian access to the fronts of all businesses and to parking areas downtown so business can carry on as usual. The DDA will put up signs listing businesses along the detour routes to help direct people to their destinations.
In an information packet that was delivered to businesses, the DDA recommends some strategies for weathering the construction:
Businesses should develop a plan with employees where they should park in order to provide the best access for customers. Employees are asked to park in overflow lots or at the rear of parking lots behind the businesses.
Highlight your entrance. Make sure there are signs directing customers to the correct entrance.
Keep on message. Consider keeping a script next to your phone so that you and your employees have quick and easy directions to give to customers. Make sure all your employees know what to say and how to say it. Include directions on your voicemail.
Establish an online presence and use email to keep customers updated on traffic/parking conditions, delivery options, changes in hours of operation and any specials.
Businesses can come up with creative ways to make the construction period fun for customers by developing their own promotions and rewarding repeat customers.
Pape said that if we continue to shop downtown, “Our businesses will be fine. We’ll come out on the far end of the project and it will be great. It’s going to be a transformative project.”