Very Berry Christmas encouraging New Iberia residents to shop local, shop small

Published 10:00 am Wednesday, December 9, 2020

For the past six years, the Greater Iberia Chamber of Commerce has helped its Teche Area citizens support local business with the Chamber’s Very Berry Christmas throughout the month of December.

Each week, exclusive local deals and specials for local businesses are available on the Very Berry Christmas Facebook page, where the GICC will be giving away different prizes based on that week’s question. The local business helped to provide this year’s prizes.

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Chamber has had to adjust the program. Instead of having in-person events on the day of the New Iberia Christmas parade, they are instead using their Facebook page to hold the contest and announce the weekly winners virtually. When a winner is announced, they come by the GICC office to claim their prize.

Shalee Landry serves as the treasure and board member for the Greater Iberia Chamber of Commerce and said the event brings families and business together in December.

It’s a way to achieve one of their missions, according to Landry, which is to have people shop

“We reached out to businesses to give us information about what their specials are, what coupons they have, what they are doing this holiday season to encourage people to shop local and we’ve encouraged them to give prizes,” Landry said. “So basically I repost their posts (from Facebook) on the Very Berry Facebook page and we’ve come up with a few contests.”

This week’s prizes were courtesy of Emily’s Closet and included a blanket and a hot cocoa kit provided by the Tapped Ba-you, LLC.

“This week’s giveaway is to tell us your favorite movie to snuggle on the couch to watch this holiday season,” Landry said. “So we’re just trying to get these families to like these local businesses and shop local.”

To participate in an event, Landry said that she encourages people to like the post, share the post, tag three friends and comment on that week’s question. Landry also mentioned that she would like for people to take photos of themselves shopping local and to tag the business they are buying from.The winners are then announced on the Very Berry Facebook page.

Shopping local and small is vital for the community of New Iberia, Landry said, and it allows for shoppers to get more one-on-one experiences with local businesses, something Landry said is important.

“For me, I try to shop as local as I can,” Landry said. “When me and my daughters walk into some of the boutiques here, they know us by name,” she added. “I think it’s the personal touch that a small business can give to its customers. You can’t match that.”