There’s still plenty of time till Halloween, but the Lake Superior College Bookstore is already getting a head start on the festivities. October 1 marked the first day of their “Pick-a-pumpkin” sale, where lucky customers can receive up to 25 percent off LSC apparel and merchandise.
For the entire month of October, a pumpkin patch will be displayed on an easel right next to the counter. Each customer has the opportunity to pluck a mini pumpkin from the board and win either 15, 20 or 25 percent off or a prize drawn from a selection of small gift items like LSC water bottles, headphones and school supplies.
This is the first year the store has done this particular version of the sale, though Online Store Coordinator Lisa Peterson said that they have had similar sales in the past.
“For Valentine’s Day, we did “Pick-a-Heart” and for graduation, we had cut-out caps and gowns they could draw from,” she said. “The students think these types of sales are really fun and it gives them more of a chance to interact than if we just handed out coupons.”
Online shoppers are included in the fun as well, with 20 percent off their orders of LSC apparel or merchandise. Peterson said that her priority is to cross-promote the physical store and the online store whenever possible.
“We have displays with flyers set up around campus to try and draw people into the store, and to encourage more traffic to our online store and social media pages. We also promote each event on Facebook and Twitter as well.
“Each event or sale is always trial-and-error,” she continued. “It definitely takes some creativity and thinking outside the box. Once you find something that works, though, stick with it and just keep expanding on that original idea."
Throughout the course of the sale, the staff will mix the pumpkins up periodically to keep the game fair for everyone.
“It’s cool to see the students react,” Peterson said. “The simplicity is there, but getting to draw their own prize is entertaining and interactive enough to bring them into the store. It’s a great way for us to showcase the bookstore to anyone who hasn’t made it in yet this semester.”
