The holidays are right around the corner, and one of the best gifts you can give to your community is keeping dollars local. When you’re not quite sure what to buy someone, a gift certificate to their favorite store is always a great option, or if you don’t know their favorite shop, perhaps their favorite downtown?
Since 2013, Main Street Lexington (MSL) has operated its own gift certificate program entirely in-house. Rather than outsourcing their management to a third-party, their dollars stay right where they belong: in the local community.
In the Main Street world, there are plenty of service providers willing to create and manage a gift card system on behalf of a district, which can be a steep cost for some already tight Main Street budgets. Without proper income or a corporate sponsor, gift card programs can cost an arm and a leg because they often cost more than they earn.
Main Street Lexington proves there’s another way.
Here’s how it works: gift certificates can be purchased at three downtown locations, including the Main Street Lexington office, or online through the organization’s website, and redeemed at any participating business in the district. When a certificate is redeemed, the organization reimburses the business for the purchase amount.
Running a program like this is no simple task, despite how simple a Virginia Main Street blog may make it seem. Behind the scenes, extensive recordkeeping is done via multiple spreadsheets, which can be a part-time job on its own. In fact, the organization recently completed an internship through Washington and Lee University in which a local student helped optimize and organize the books.
More than 85 businesses are enrolled in the Main Street Lexington gift certificate program, including five arts and antique shops, six entertainment venues, 15 service-based businesses, 30 retailers, and 33 restaurants and cafes. Participating in the program costs small businesses nothing beyond promoting the fact that they accept the certificate. Main Street Lexington covers all the administrative and printing costs, meaning that downtown Lexington businesses receive 100% of the face value for each certificate that they redeem.
For our economists reading, the numbers speak for themselves. To date, the Main Street organization has distributed well over $500,000 through more than 35,000 individual gift certificates since the program launched as one of MSL’s first initiatives back in 2013. In 2024 alone, over $60,000 stayed within downtown Lexington’s economy.
If you plan to visit Main Street Lexington soon, be sure to explore the full roster of participating businesses here — or pick up a gift card for yourself while you’re at it. Interested in learning more about Main Street Lexington’s Gift Certificate Program? Here’s a link to their FAQ.
Virginia Main Street 