SHELBURNE FALLS — Small Business Saturday has come and gone, but the founder of Floodwater Brewing Co. wants you to know there are still reasons to shop locally.
Zack Livingston has decided to start a “Fight for Independents,” an effort to persuade people to keep their dollars in their community. To receive a gift certificate to Floodwater, stop by the brewery with valid identification; a receipt for an item you purchased in December at an independently owned, Franklin County-based, non-chain business; and documentation of the alternative online, big box or chain retailer’s price of that item. Each gift certificate, which will be redeemable starting Jan. 1, will offset the cost difference (up to $10).
Floodwater, which opened on the night of Moonlight Magic in 2018, has allotted $500 toward this effort and will issue gift certificates from 1 to 5 p.m. on Dec. 21 and 22, or until the $500 has been doled out. Any money the public donates to the cause will be added to that initial $500.
“I just thought it was kind of a neat thing to do,” said Livingston, 36, who owns and operates the brewery, and is also the son of the Greenfield Recorder’s editor-in-chief. “If you’re paying a little bit more money, you’re putting it in the pocket of somebody who lives in your neighborhood.
“I always made a concerted effort to shop locally whenever possible, no matter what I’m buying,” he added.
People must be 21 or older to participate. Floodwater will independently verify the alternative retailer’s price and, once the difference has been established, the brewery will take your receipt and write you a gift certificate for the difference (excluding tax and rounding to the nearest dollar). Floodwater requires people to forfeit the receipt to deter anyone from immediately returning the item after receiving the gift certificate. If you decide to take back your purchase receipt, you must also return your unused gift certificate or its equivalent in cash. Gift certificates cannot be transferred and there is a limit of one per household.
Reach Domenic Poli at: dpoli@recorder.com or 413-772-0261, ext. 262.