Business News - December 17

Who let the dogs out? 🐶

Author

Joya Garris
December 17, 2024

The crowd at last Friday’s Christmas Parade completely blew us away. I hope you saw increased foot traffic and had some fun! Now, let’s get ready for a final night of holiday magic.

Today’s Top Three:

  • Delta Dental Dickens of a Christmas continues this Friday, December 20th with the RVSPCA Pet Costume Contest along with 2 new elements!

  • Save the date(s) for Restaurant Week. Help us determine the best price points.

  • Check out our holiday marketing efforts in our shopping campaign wrap-up.

Bonus: A new restaurant just opened downtown.

Keep reading to stay informed!  

- Joya Garris, Community Engagement and Communications Manager

Stay Informed

Pets, Pits, and Play at Dickens

The fun continues this Friday night at Delta Dental Dickens of a Christmas. Grab your furry friend for the Roanoke Valley SPCA Pet Costume Contest. Plus, with the help of your Blue Ridge Honda Dealers, we will have a S’mores Station with 1,000 free smores and Flurry Frenzy, a no-snow-required snowball fight presented by Galen College of Nursing. The fun runs 6pm - 10pm.

Read our Official Dickens Guide for full event details!

Please view the street closures for all three nights and pass the information along to your staff.

Holiday Shopping Marketing Wrap-Up 📝 

We love supporting our downtown small businesses throughout the holiday season! To highlight our efforts, we’ve created a wrap-up showcasing three key campaigns: Small Business Saturday, the holiday gift guide, and general holiday shopping downtown.

Click the button below to explore how we’re driving customers to shop local and support your business this season.

Accepting Downtown Gift Cards 💳️ 

Downtown Roanoke gift cards can be used at many downtown stores, restaurants, and services. As the holidays approach, we’ve seen a significant increase in gift card sales. Are you set up to accept them? A DRI staff member must stop by and complete the setup process each time you update or change your POS.

Participation Requirements:

  • Business must be located within the Downtown Service District

  • Must have a physical card swiper

Let us know if you need us to set you up for gift card acceptance!

New Business Alert! 📣 

You may have noticed a change to Campbell Avenue— a new restaurant! Familia Argentina offers a pleasant atmosphere where you can enjoy a delicious homemade Argentine meal at affordable prices. They serve empanadas, picadas, sandwiches, milanesa dishes, pasta, and more! Visit today to support a new local business.

Ambassadors Light Up the Parade 💡 

Our Downtown Roanoke Ambassadors took a break from typical cleaning and hospitality duties to promote the program at the City of Roanoke Christmas Parade! We appreciate the team’s hard work and participation in our festivities.

Sorry, We’re Closed! 🚫 

DRI’s office will be closed Monday, December 23rd - Friday, December 27th in observance of the holiday.

Get Involved

Save the Date(s) for Restaurant Week 🍔 

Roanoke’s tastiest week returns January 17 - 26! Restaurant Week allows customers the chance to experience Downtown’s extensive mix of lunch and dinner options.

Restaurants, we want your opinions on pricing before setting firm price points. Please click the button below to complete our survey.

Gain Knowledge & Network

Retail & Restaurant Meeting 💻️ 

Let’s start the new year strong— join us for our next Retail & Restaurant Meeting on Thursday, January 16th at 8:30am and 3:30pm via Zoom! Keep your eyes peeled for an agenda as we approach mid-January.

Events, Street Closures, & Parking

Downtown Events and Street Closures 🚧

The following street closures and associated events may affect Downtown traffic and business for the week of December 16-22.

⭐️ Delta Dental Dickens of a Christmas continues this Friday, December 20th. Please review our upcoming street closures.

Check out our Event Calendar for a full list of events.

Find Downtown Parking 🅿️

With more than 1,300 on-street spaces and 7,000+ off-street spaces, plenty of free or paid parking options exist.

DRI - Your Downtown Partner

Put DRI to work for you! 💼

Our mission is to make Downtown Roanoke the preferred place to Work, Live, and Play. As a Downtown business, you have a valuable FREE resource at your fingertips. Let us help share your story!

Website Listings on DowntownRoanoke.org - Our business listings often come up among the first in Google searches. Help us enhance your listing by providing us with vital information including website, phone number, description, hours, menus, and images.

Job Listings on DowntownRoanoke.org - Downtown Roanoke is the most vibrant workplace around and a destination for job seekers. Let us help get the word out when you’re hiring!

Event Listings on DowntownRoanoke.org - Our Event Calendar is THE place people go to find out what’s happening Downtown. Get your event in front of the audience you’re looking for.

Important Contacts 👤

Often businesses need phone numbers for government services, such as solid waste, permitting, etc., and other services, such as private parking and transportation.

Check out our list of frequently requested information!