Shop ’til you drop

L.B. Chamber of Commerce kicks off restaurant and merchants week events

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The Long Beach Chamber of Commerce is set to kick off its annual Merchants Week and Restaurant Week events on Thursday and Friday, part of an initiative to attract shoppers and diners to town, encourage Long Beach residents to shop local and support the local business community.

Merchants Week begins Thursday and culminates on Sunday, Oct. 23, with a shopping crawl from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. More than a dozen businesses are participating in the event and offering shoppers unique promotions and discounts.

“We’ve had a tremendous amount of support,” event organizer Jennifer Montiglio, owner of Ooh la la, a women’s boutique at 134 E. Park Ave., said at Monday’s chamber meeting at the Allegria Hotel. “The concept is really just to promote shopping small, shopping local.”

The chamber is encouraging businesses to also hold individual events; on Friday, for example, Ooh la la will feature models showcasing the shop’s latest fall collections, as well as music, cocktails and more for shoppers. Other participating businesses include Rose & Eye, Unsound surf shop, Josef Rose, Scout Design Shop, Koko Fit Club, Codfish Cowboy, Sue’s Nail Salon and Spa, Get Beautified, Earth Arts, Frippery, Ripped Long Beach, Engel & Volkers, and Ocean Ride Cycling, among others.

The shopping crawl on Sunday works like this: the first 200 participants who register at either Ooh la la or Rose & Eye, at 893 W. Beech St., will receive a tote bag with goodies, a shopping crawl map, a bracelet and a drink coupon. The more participating businesses that shoppers visit, the more raffle tickets they will receive. A wrap party will be held at Lola’s Kitchen & Wine Bar, at 180 W. Park Ave., between 4 and 6 p.m. following the crawl, where prizes will be raffled off.

“Culturally, I think it’s a really good thing,” said Michael Muratore, owner of Rose & Eye. “The more you do it, the more people will catch onto it. If we keep going, and more and more people participate, it will be recognized as yet another annual thing in town to do.”

Merchants Week coincides with Restaurant Week, which runs Oct. 21 to 30, and about a dozen restaurants on the barrier island are offering $23.99 prix fixe menus and specials. The Allegria Hotel’s Atlantica Restaurant, Beginnings, LB Social, Fisherman’s Catch, Gino’s of Long Beach, Jo Jo Apples, Lola’s, the Long Beach Hotel, Nagahama, Sangria Tapas & Wine, and Seasons Asian Pan are among the participating restaurants.

The chamber is advertising the events on News 12 and in Newsday and the Herald, and the city is helping to promote the efforts through an I Love New York grant that the city’s Department of Economic Development secured last year. And chamber officials said that the organization is looking to build on the events moving forward.

“Some of the big things, for this new board, is that they really wanted to produce events that benefit the local businesses directly, and we wanted to form a better relationship with the city and its economic development department,” said chamber Secretary Ian Danby, referring to a recent change in leadership at the chamber.

For more information about Merchants Week and Restaurant Week and a full list of participating businesses, visit www.thelongbeachchamber.com.