Play a game of Baton Rouge Bingo this month to win prizes from local spots

Supporting local businesses always has its perks. But this month, you could win prizes for patronizing your favorite neighborhood spots and playing a game of bingo.

Baton Rouge Bingo is a collaboration among 24 local businesses that encourages the community to “support small and wing big.” Customers are invited to head to one of the participating spots to nab a card and start collecting marked spaces. The idea came from TBR Books & Tea owner Jamie Freeman, who joined forces with her neighbor Roz Fransen of Baton Rouge Succulent Co. to get the ball rolling on this fun project.

“In the retail space, January and February are usually just pretty slow because everybody’s still trying to recover from all of the December Christmas spending, and so things have been slow [at TBR],” Freeman says. “I was thinking, ‘What can I do to kind of pick things up?’ I also feel like there’s still a big part of the Baton Rouge population that doesn’t even know that we’re here. So I was trying to come up with ideas on how to spread the word, not only about us, but about other small businesses in town, obviously.”

Freeman and Fransen made a list of their business-owner friends and began reaching out to independently owned shops around town. Quickly, they found enough places to fill all 24 spots on a bingo card (the 25th spot is a free space, of course). Together they gathered a variety of participants that covered a variety of interests, like Magpie Cafe, The Modern Munchkin Co., Red Stick Reads, Parish Pets, Time Warp Boutique and more.

The rules are simple. Just like a normal game of bingo, you want to secure five squares in a row. To get a square marked, patrons must visit a participating business and make a purchase (no minimum amount) or post about the business on their social media (temporary story posts don’t count). Staff will distribute stamps once either requirement is met. Once a player gets five squares stamped in a row, they can leave their card at one of the shops or keep it to try and secure a blackout card, in which all spots get filled.

“The idea was that we wanted people to go into these businesses and make some kind of impact,” Freeman says, “whether that’s a financial impact or the impact of helping us do the marketing for our stores by showing other people that you’ve been in our place.”

Cards that received a bingo or blackout will be put together and drawn for prizes. Those with one complete row stamped can be pulled once, but if a blackout card is drawn, it can be put back to be possibly redrawn again. Those who get their cards drawn will win a collection of goodies donated by participating businesses. Prize bundles can include gift cards, experiences and other curated items.

While this is a fun game for customers, Freeman and Fransen say they hope it will help Baton Rougeans discover more independently owned shops in the community, especially during a time when big retailers seem to be at our fingertips.

“Shopping local puts money right back into our community and helps the people behind these small businesses keep doing what they love,” Fransen said in a press release. “Every
share, post, or word-of-mouth recommendation goes a long way for small businesses! It matters so much more than people realize.”

Baton Rouge Bingo will run through March 31. Cards must be turned in by March 31, and winners will be drawn and contacted at the beginning of April. Find a full list of rules and participating businesses here.