Gift cards were the most-requested gift last holiday season, according to a National Retail Federation survey.

            As another holiday season beckons, downtown Colorado Springs is looking for its share of the multibillion-dollar gift card industry with the new Downtown Gift Card.

            The card, launched by the Downtown Business Improvement District in coordination with the Downtown Partnership, will be available starting Friday. It can be redeemed at more than 100 downtown shops, restaurants and galleries — a number that Denise Schall, program coordinator for the Downtown Partnership, expects to grow.

            While gift cards are more associated with individual retailers and shopping centers, the Springs is not the first city to introduce a downtown gift card. Boulder, Cincinnati and Des Moines, Iowa, are among cities with such cards.

            In talking with officials in other downtowns, Schall said, “they all told me it was a lot of work to get it implemented, which it has been, and that it was expensive to get it implemented, which it has been. And they all thought it was of benefit to their downtown and that they’re glad they did it.”

            Tyler Schiedel, manager of Nosh, a restaurant downtown, hopes the card shines a spotlight on what he considers a unique, customer-oriented shopping experience downtown. “Maybe somebody in the know,” he said, “buys a gift card for somebody who’s not quite in the know.”

To GET A CARD

            The Downtown Colorado Springs Gift Card will be available for purchase online, beginning Friday, at www.downtown80903.com, or at the Downtown Partnership offices, 111 S. Tejon St., Suite 309. The card is available in any denomination from $10 to $500, with larger amounts available upon approval. Buyers get a list of participating merchants. ❄

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