11/29/09 – Today, Mayor Gavin Newsom announced that the City is bringing back the Shop SF, Get More incentive program this winter for San Francisco and Bay Area residents.  Shop SF, Get More is a city-wide program that offers special discounts and promotions exclusively for residents of the nine Bay Area counties through January, 2010.

“Shop SF, Get More was a great shot in the arm for our small businesses last year,” said Mayor Gavin Newsom. “This year, we are bringing it back to showcase our world-class dining, museums, events, attractions, and hotels. Whether it’s shopping in Union Square or touring our diverse neighborhoods, there’s something for everyone.”

In order to encourage local and Bay Area residents to shop and buy in San Francisco this holiday season, Shop SF, Get More includes the following special discounts and promotions:

Show Your Zip Code: Residents in the nine-county Bay Area are eligible to receive special discounts, by
showing their ZIP code at nearly 150 participating merchants.

Ride with More, Park for Less: From Nov. 19 to Dec. 27, 2009, shoppers can save money on parking between 10 am and 6 pm at eight participating garages. SFMTA will provide one hour of free parking to cars arriving with three passengers and two hours of free parking for cars arriving with four passengers.

Sunday FunDay: Muni transfers will be good all day on Sundays from Nov. 15 to Dec. 27 (Nov. 15, 22 and 29 and Dec. 6, 13, 20 and 27), 2009.  Transfers are usually valid for only 90 minutes. Transfers are not given on cable cars.

Hotels: San Francisco hotels are offering reduced rates, complimentary parking and breakfast, and a variety
of discounted holiday packages.

Restaurants: Through the Show Your Zip Code program, residents are eligible for special promotions at
select San Francisco restaurants. In January, “Dine About Town” will offer fixed-price three course lunches
and dinners at over 100 restaurants.

Museums: Free days and free child admissions at many of the city’s finest cultural institutions.

Events: Enjoy hundreds of holiday events, including classics (Nutcracker, A Christmas Carol), the offbeat
(Dance Along Nutcracker, Kung Pao Kosher Comedy) and the diverse (Parol Lantern Festival, Black
Nativity).

Mobile to Social Media

Mobile Spinach (“Text SHOPSF to 313131 for exclusive discounts!”), a San Francisco-based mobile social marketing service, will communicate the “Show Your ZIP” offers via text to their members’ cell phones. Participating merchants will receive in-store displays, alerting shoppers that they can text the business’ name to Mobile Spinach and receive details of the offer on their phone.

Foursquare is a location-based social network to encourage users to take advantage of the “Show Your ZIP” offers. Foursquare creates applications for mobile phones that use game mechanics to reward people for discovering new places and experiencing new things. Users earn points, win “mayorships” and unlock badges for “checking-in” at various venues.  Participants that check into 3 or more “”Show Your ZIP” business or museums, will be eligible for a drawing for prizes.  (3 Drawings throughout the campaign.)

Yelp operates a social networking, user review, and local search web site with over 25 million visitors each month. Yelp will advertise the “Show Your ZIP” campaign on their weekly newsletters that reach hundreds of thousands of their Bay Area users. The company will also assist all participating merchants set up Business Owners Accounts and advise businesses on how to market themselves through Yelp.

Additional information on all of the programs in the Shop SF, Get More campaign is available on the San Francisco Convention & Visitors Bureau (SFCVB) Web site, www.onlyinsanfrancisco.com/shopsf.

The Office of Mayor Gavin Newsom, the Office of Economic & Workforce Development, the Office of Small Business, the San Francisco Convention and Visitor Bureau, the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce, the Hotel Council of San Francisco, San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA), Bay Area Regional Transit (BART), the San Francisco Chronicle/SFGate, Mobile Spinach, Yelp, and Foursquare are partnering to bring special holiday deals to shoppers in San Francisco.