HUNTSVILLE – The spirit of rich Uncle Pennybags visited the Huntsville Madison County Chamber on Wednesday for the launch of the “shop local” campaign called Shop Local-opoly.

The Monopoly-themed retail campaign offers shoppers opportunities to enter a drawing to win up to $650 worth of gift cards from local businesses.

For every five receipts for purchases made through Dec. 1 at any of the 26 Madison County businesses that appear on the customized game board, shoppers will earn an entry in the Shop Local-opoly prize drawing. Shoppers can enter multiple times, for every five receipts from five participating stores.

Three winners of gift cards will be announced at the Chamber’s Business & Brews event Dec. 1.

Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle, a former local business owner, said it was great to see so many local business owners participating.

“By age 24, I was a small business owner, although the business owned me more than I owned it and I know you guys know what that means,” he said to a round of laughter. “But the great thing is, every one of our companies in town started off as a small company and every one of our companies drive our economy … they are very important to us because a small business is an underpinning to what makes our economy grow.”

The 26 local retailers are: Altered Reality VR Arcade & Game Center, Burritt On The Mountain, Crumbl Cookies, Designs by Essence, Dogtown West Furniture, Donny’s Diamond Gallery, Fleet Feet Huntsville-Madison, Good Company Café, Handel’s Ice Cream, Holtz Leather Co., Huntsville Symphony Orchestra, Lawren’s, Le Macaron French Pastries, Mason Dixon Bakery & Bistro, Monkee’s of Huntsville, Off The Rack Boutique, Palmetto Moon, Parlor Doughnuts, PJ’s Coffee, Pure Barre Huntsville, Rhythm on Monroe, Rocket City Trash Pandas, Sultry Company, Terrame Day Spa & Salon, The Fret Shop, and Vous Salon Retreat.

Remember, when you shop local, you’re making a personal investment in the local community and for every $100 spent, roughly $68 to $73 of it returns to local activity.

For more information about the campaign, to obtain a printed copy of the gameboard, or to download and print a gameboard, click here.

It’s easy to pass “Go” and there’s plenty of “Free Parking” on this shopper’s gameboard!