Shop St. Joseph kicked off Wednesday and other holiday shopping programs around the area begin soon.

Kristi Bailey with the St. Joseph Chamber of Commerce said they are encouraging retailers who would like to be a part of the program this year to sign up soon at the Chamber so they can begin handing out tickets.

Bailey said the benefit of Shop St. Joseph for businesses is getting new people in the doors as the program encourages residents to buy local during the holidays.

“Residents are doing their shopping and they want to help support the local economy, support local business,” Bailey said. “They go to the list of participating merchants and they get a ticket just for entering the door, but then another ticket for every $10 they spend. At the end of the shopping season, this year it’s December 19th, will be the grand prize drawing and one lucky shopper will win a $10,000 grand prize.”

Any retailer can participate, whether they are a Chamber member or not. Bailey said retailers can sign up now until the week of Thanksgiving, but the earlier they sign up, the more ads they will be included in before then.

For more information and a list of participating businesses, go to saintjoseph.com.

Shop Merryville will be starting Nov. 19th, and Chamber of Commerce Director Lily White said businesses will begin giving out tickets to shoppers that day for a chance to win gift cards.

“Every dollar that you spend in businesses that are participating in Shop Merryville, you get entered to win gift cards,” White said. “Every business that is involved in Shop Merryville gives a certain number of gift cards, there are several levels they can be involved in. For example, some businesses give seven gift cards, so over four weeks, we will give away their seven gift cards and all the other gift cards. Last year, we gave away over 170 gift cards just in the month of December.”

For more information, go to maryvillechamber.com.

In Atchison, Libby Llama’s Holiday Hunt takes place Thursday through Friday.

Libby Llama will be at 25 different Atchison businesses during store hours and shoppers are encouraged to find Libby, take a selfie with her and post it to social media using the hashtag #visitatchison and the store’s personal hashtag. Posts serve as entries for prizes. Each store will hold a drawing for a gift on Nov. 12th.

For more information, click here.

Buttons are now available for Atchison’s Christmas Stroll on Saturday, Nov. 24th. For more information, go to visitatchison.com.