PORT ANGELES –_ Here’s a way to go shopping downtown — without cash or credit cards:
Downtown Dollars.
Like similar programs in Port Townsend and Sequim, Downtown Dollars are accepted by about 65 participating shops and restaurants in the downtown area.
Downtown Dollars are gift certificate-type checks that can be purchased by employers for employee bonuses and anniversaries — or for residents or visitors to give as gifts for the holidays, birthdays, weddings or any other occasion.
These “dollars” are good for purchasing anything at participating merchants — and it keeps the money “local.”
Downtown Dollars work like traveler’s checks, encoded on the bottom, and go right into a merchant’s cash drawer like any other check.
If the entire amount is not spent, change will be provided.
“There’s no special fussing and bother in accepting of them,” says Arla Holzschuh, executive director of the Port Angeles Downtown Association.
The association sponsors Downtown Dollars with First Federal Savings and Loan.
Holzschuh is in the process of signing up more stores and restaurants that will accept Downtown Dollars.
Businesses in the downtown area interested in the program should contact Holzschuh, phone: 360-457-9614; e-mail, pada@olypen.com.
Shoppers can purchase Downtown Dollars in denominations from $5 to $50 at First Federal’s three Port Angeles offices: First and Oak Streets; 227 E. 6th St.; 1603 E. First St.; The Toggery, 105 E. 1st St.; and Peninsula Daily News, 305 W. First St.
Port Townsend, Sequim
Businesses in Port Townsend and Sequim have their own versions of Downtown Dollars — and they work the same.
More than 100 businesses in downtown and uptown Port Townsend honor Town Dollars, offered through the Port Townsend Main Street Program in cooperation with First Federal since 1998.
Town Dollars can be purchased at First Federal’s office at 1321 Sims Way and at Sport Townsend, 1044 Water St.; and at The Printery, 631 Tyler St.
For more information about Town Dollars, contact Mari F. Mullen, executive director of the Port Townsend Main Street Program; ptmainstreet@olympus.net or 360-385-7911.
In Sequim, the Sequim-Dungeness Valley Chamber of Commerce, 1192 E. Washington St., is offering Sun Bucks.
For information, contact contact Jeri Smith at the chamber, 360-683-6197, or e-mail jeri@cityofsequim.