Source, The Mercury, Donna Rovin

KING OF PRUSSIA — It only took two hours — 120 minutes — and the second round of the King of Prussia District gift card flash sale was sold out. The Get More, KOP gift card sale kicked off at noon on Tuesday, Sept. 8 — offering 1,000 upgraded gift cards to King of Prussia businesses.

The cards sold for $25 each, but were upgraded to a value of $35, courtesy of King of Prussia District and sponsors for the second round. The effort generated another $35,000 for the 40 King of Prussia restaurants, hotels, fitness centers, attractions, retailers and service providers that participated in the second round.

The total economic impact for area businesses from both rounds was $70,000.

“I think people realize that businesses are going through a very difficult time right now and this is the perfect time to help them,” said Rachel Ammon, marketing and communications director for the for King of Prussia District. “Specifically, we have a lot of variety on the list of businesses, but a there are a good number of mom and pops and they did incredibly in both rounds of the sales.”

Some of that is due to the business’ loyal customer base wanting to support them, she added.

“But hopefully new people too, are looking for ways to support small businesses and local businesses and this makes it easy for them.”

Ammon said she “was shocked” at how quickly the cards sold out.

“I was conservative in my thinking and was preparing for a 48 hour effort,” she said.

All of the businesses from round one participated and King of Prussia District added 10 new businesses to the initiative. Ammon said the district tried to hit different areas in its advertising for the second flash sale. She said there were some repeat customers buying cards. In addition, she said there were a number of people that bought multiple cards at once.

For their part, Ammon said the businesses were “thrilled” with the results.” By the end of Tuesday, the businesses knew how many cards had been sold for their individual business, and on Wednesday, Ammon said she delivered check to them

The first gift card flash sale launched Aug. 4, and saw 1,000 gift cards sell out in 27 hours.

Based on the success of the two sales, Ammon said the district is planning to do a third round in October.

“With even more businesses. We want to encourage people to get a jump start on their holiday shopping,” she said.

The gift card initiative is part of the District’s Let’s Go KOP — a marketing and advertising campaign to welcome the public back to safely enjoying all that King of Prussia has to offer, including hotels, restaurants, retailers and attractions.

King of Prussia District is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit, special services organization. The organization engages public and private partners to collaboratively improve the economic environment in King of Prussia. More information can be found at visitKOP.com.