Village gives businesses signal boost with ‘Distinctly Winnetka’

Local businesses in Winnetka have a new way to interact with potential customers thanks to a recently created initiative from their Village. 

The Village of Winnetka recently announced its “Distinctly Winnetka” text loyalty program, which is designed to support local businesses and highlight their promotions.

The program sends to Winnetka residents text messages that feature a list of news, events and promotions from local businesses. There is no cost to join the program — for either local businesses or residents. 

Local businesses submit information to the village about their upcoming events, promotions and specials. The Village turns the information into text messages that they send approximately two or three times a month to residents who sign up for the program.

“We’re really excited about launching this sort of business support platform,” said Liz Dechant, economic development coordinator for the village.

Some businesses often have their own text-loyalty programs but because this is sponsored through the Village, any business or resident in the community can sign up. Participants of the program can also unsubscribe at any time, Dechant said. 

More than a dozen local businesses signed up for the program earlier this month when the Village did a soft launch of the program, according to Dechant. Well over 100 residents also signed up during the soft launch, she said. 

“We heard from businesses that they wanted greater access to their customers directly to mobile phones and what we heard from other villages (that have a similar program) was that this is a program that really works. So, we’re really happy to be able to provide a resource for our local business community.”  

To join the community program and receive information from the local community businesses, text WINN to 55678.