Cash and prizes for winners in Oakland County's Small Business Saturday to Saturday promotion

Holiday buying turned lucrative for three area residents as they shared $7,500 in cash and prizes, just for making a purchase in Oakland County during the "Small Business Saturday to Saturday" promotion. Waterford resident Pam McCoy was the grand prize winner of $5,000, courtesy of North American Bancard, for making a purchase at the Pigeon in the Parlour in Holly. She was given her check last Wednesday by Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson during a news conference at The Bird & The Bread in Birmingham. "It's nice to provide extra holiday cheer to this year's contest winners and help small businesses in Oakland County attract more shoppers," Patterson said. "Thanks to everyone who helped make 'Small Business Saturday to Saturday' a success. The holiday shopping season is critical to so many of the independent stores, restaurants and other businesses in our communities." Royal Oak resident Marion Reich won the second place prize of $2,000 from Bank of Ann Arbor for making a purchase at Atomic Coffee in Royal Oak. Richard Aginian of Bloomfield Hills won the third place prize of a $500 Southwest Airlines ticket voucher, courtesy of Flint Bishop International Airport. He made a purchase at the Tennis and Golf Company in Royal Oak. MaryAnn Brostek and Elyse Vermilye, the salespeople at the Pigeon in the Parlour in Holly who helped McCoy with her shopping split $500, courtesy of the Bank of Ann Arbor. "Small Business Saturday to Saturday" encouraged holiday shoppers to make purchases at small, independently-owned, brick and mortar businesses. It attracted a record 1,156 entries from across Oakland County. Shoppers entered the contest by uploading copies of their sales receipts to a special website. Promotion receipts totaled more than $67,000 in sales. Winners were picked in a random drawing. Shoppers could buy goods and services at any qualified small business in Oakland County but 250 businesses registered for the promotion and had a chance to win $1,000, courtesy of CEED Lending. The winner was Kimberly Alverson, owner of Goldfish Tea in Royal Oak. The Birmingham Shopping District asked the county to conduct a random drawing of 16 names from all the entries that submitted receipts from Birmingham small businesses. The top winner, Amy Baum of Birmingham, received a necklace valued at $670 from Astrein's Creative Jewelers. Christina Wincek of Birmingham, the second place winner, received two airline tickets to anywhere in the continental United States from Departure Travel Management. "We hope more communities and chambers will partner with us next year to increase the positive economic impact of the contest," Patterson said. Published: Mon, Dec 18, 2017