City pushing Shop LQ campaign to drum up business
The city of La Quinta is looking to make amends, continuing to apologize for the traffic issues caused by the Ironman Triathlon last month. It’s doing so through a renewed marketing push.
“The parking lot was pretty empty and I could see on my cameras looking outside that there hadn’t been people in,” Heidi McArthur, owner of Jadabugs Kids Boutique, said.
That’s how she described the initial foot traffic on the day of the Ironman. She says the event fell on a weekend when a lot of Christmas shopping was being done and was forced to open late due to the traffic snarl. McArthur says she’s fortunate a sale didn’t dampen her own customer’s enthusiasm later that day.
“We did a 50 percent off toy sale and the day ended up doing well because of that but I had a friend in the Cove who took over an hour to shop here that day,” she said.
It was a similar story at the La Quinta Baking Company as well with owner Kim Bower saying she saw less customers.
“There was a slight, definitely an impact on the number of folks we typically see on a Sunday,” she said.
In a letter to residents and business owners, the La Quinta city council apologized for the frustrations and acknowledged some business lost revenue and said it would be pushing a “Shop LQ” campaign to help drum up further business.
“What we’ve been doing is essentially creating more ads, creating social media pushes and encouraging not just local residents, but the entire Coachella Valley to shop La Quinta,” Marcie Graham, City of La Quinta marketing management coordinator, said.
The city says plans were already in the works for this campaigns before Ironman, but became accelerated due to the backlash created by the event’s traffic issues. City staff says they understand the frustrations and says this campaign is a way to make up for lost business.
“We really wanted to not only apologize to all of them but also in a sense, make it right, make it good, and help in any way we can,” Graham said.
McArthur and Gower say they understands the city is continuing to work out the kinks and support the “Shop LQ” campaign.
“I’m excited about any type of marketing that they’ll do. I think when we do it as a whole, it brings even better results,” McArthur said.
“We are in full support of La Quinta, the city. This was the first year of the event. Many agencies and organizations were involved , so there are always tweaks that have to be made so what ever they decide to do, we’ll be in full support,” Gower said.
The Shop LQ campaign is expected to be fully launched in about two week. The city is continuing discussions with Ironman officials on whether it will continue to host future events.
