Mainstreet groups are joining forces to drive a campaign of local business support and re-boot business under Level Two,

Mainstreet Downtown Tauranga, Mount Mainstreet and Greerton Village have joined forces and launched a major Buy Local campaign.

The ‘Buy Local. Buy Tauranga' campaign showcases the local business community in a unique way.

Mainstreet Downtown Tauranga spokesperson Sally Cooke says it's all about putting a human face on a campaign that connects emotively with residents.

'Our local business community is made up of mums and dads, grandparents, sons, daughters, entrepreneurs and risk takers who open their businesses every day and work tirelessly to provide products and services for our residents, visitors and tourists.

"COVID-19 has knocked our business community sideways and now, more than ever, we need to encourage residents to spend what they can on local business because when you spend locally you are helping to save local businesses.”

Sally says the campaign that the three Mainstreets are running together heralds a new collaborative platform for the city.

'Let's face it, Tauranga residents, visitors and tourists shop ‘across our city', and with this campaign we are acknowledging that.

"We are saying that on any given day we want you to spend what you can, across our Tauranga business community, whether that is in Greerton Village, The Mount or Downtown Tauranga and maybe all three. Because if you do that, we all benefit.”

Mount Mainstreet Manger Mandy Gillgren agrees.

'We have a number of local business owners with businesses in more than one centre. Let's celebrate that. This campaign, because it is collaborative, gives us a stronger voice collectively, yet it still allows us to showcase our individual Mainstreet centres and the businesses within them.”

Greerton Village Mainstreet Manager Sally Benning says it's about profiling our courageous local businesses.

'Every time you make a purchase in any of our local businesses it has a positive ripple effect across our community.

"We're not asking people to spend a lot, we're just saying spend what you can and when you do, try and spend it with a local business because now, more than ever, our local businesses need us – remembering perhaps that these are the very business owners that have sponsored our local sports clubs, teams, schools and many other good causes. Well, now is the time for us to show our support for them.”

The campaign features a major multi-media campaign of press, radio, billboards, showcase videos, a webpage, social media and digital collateral that showcases the individual business owners across the city.

With the move from Level 3 to Level 2 Cooke says the business community is taking an innovative approach to getting ‘back to business'.

'Critical to the resurgence of our SME sector is the ability of our businesses to evolve, adapt and get trading again as quickly and safely as possible. It is incredible to watch the Kiwi grit and determination of our business sector to meet any challenge head on and be innovative in problem solving.

"We have café's developing new product offerings, restaurants developing new collaborative partnerships and retail stores launching clever ways to harness digital technology so shoppers can digitally shop inside the store.

"Now, as we head into Level 2, they are again evolving how they operate and all the while ensuring they have stringent health and safety measures in place to keep people safe – both their teams and customers.”

Mandy says the campaign covers all sectors from retail to hospitality, service, commercial operators and tourist operators.

"We are celebrating and showcasing our courageous business community who have been taken to the brink and now we want them back in business and clawing their way back to a sustainable business model and we can't do that without the support of our residents and our community.”

Visit www.buytauranga.co.nz for more information.