Support Downtown businesses by hunting elves
Spend Small Business Saturday spotting Santa’s little helpers.
The Downtown Elf Hunt, a new initiative from the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership, encourages customers to find elves while shopping at city stores. The first event starts on Saturday, Nov. 27, with 22 retailers participating. Free parking at on-street metered spaces will also be a feature of Small Business Saturday.
Subsequent elf hunts will take place on Dec. 4, Dec. 11 and Dec. 18, with elves hiding in new spots each weekend.
Once they’ve found an elf, shoppers will scan a QR code for entries that can result in big prizes. On Nov. 27, the grand prize is $1,000 in restaurant gift cards, with subsequent weekends offering $500 to the winning hunter. As an additional incentive, visitors who make a minimum required purchase will receive a bonus “mystery” gift card to a Downtown restaurant that is valued between $10 and $50.
Drawings for the various prize packages will occur each week, with winners being notified by phone and email.
Kennywood announces design theme for Kangaroo
The votes are in and Kennywood’s beloved Kangaroo, which the amusement park briefly retired in 2020, is bouncing back with a vintage look in 2022. The online poll pitted the classic design against the vintage option.
The ride debuted 60 years ago and served as the inspiration for Kennywood’s mascot. In partnership with Premier Rides, one of the amusement industry’s leading manufacturers and innovators, the “flying coaster” will be fully refurbished, including getting a new LED lighting package, vintage makeover and a state-of-the-art operating system.
Catapult Greater Pittsburgh debuts home shopping event
Catapult Greater Pittsburgh will debut Black Entrepreneur Shopping Takeover (B.E.S.T.), a virtual home shopping networking event that allows customers to support locally owned, Black businesses from any location.
The first virtual event is on Saturday, Nov. 27. Future dates include Dec. 2, Dec. 11 and Dec. 18. The shopping experience will stream live via Catapult’s Instagram and Facebook platforms from 10:40 a.m. to 3 p.m.
The businesses that will be featured have participated and successfully completed Catapult Greater Pittsburgh’s Startup to Storefront, a 12-month retail business incubation program for minority entrepreneurs.
Visit a Downtown lobby turned art exhibition
The main lobby of Eleven Stanwix is now a temporary Downtown art gallery.
The Industrial Arts Workshop and independent local artists Staycee Pearl and Eva Trout transformed the space at 11 Stanwix St. The gallery is open to the public Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and by appointment on Saturdays and Sundays until February 2022. All pieces are for sale through the Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council’s Art on the Walls program.
The program provides exhibition opportunities to regional artists while engaging local businesses in the creative community by displaying artwork in their facilities.
“As we enter the holiday season, the newest exhibition at Eleven Stanwix is the perfect place to find a one-of-a-kind gift while also supporting local artists,” says Mitch Swain, CEO of the Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council.
