HCVB prepares to promote Hannibal in Quincy

Judging by the decorations on display, most people in Hannibal are thinking about Halloween. One exception is Beau Hicks, executive director of the Hannibal Convention and Visitors Bureau. His thoughts are focused on Christmas, specifically on how to promote Hannibal during the upcoming holiday shopping season. To that end, for roughly the past week Hicks has been part of a team working to prepare a store front in the Quincy Mall where Hannibal businesses and attractions will be promoted in the days leading up to Christmas.
“When I talked to my downtown merchants, especially about Christmas, we agreed we haven’t mastered that holiday yet,” said Hicks. “We have so many great stores and a lot of the store owners say their local client base is Hannibal and Quincy. How do we reach out to more people in Quincy and the whole tri-state who walk through that mall on a bad day? They said they would put a store right up in the middle of it.”
While Hicks has successfully used regional advertising to bring visitors to Hannibal during the summer, he says the same approach has not proven as fruitful when it comes to the Christmas season.
“With so many things in St. Charles, Mo., to do for the Christmas season, how effective is it for me to spend $5,000 to $10,000 advertising in St. Louis for Christmas? We tried that and I don’t think it was that effective,” he said. “This approach is ‘let’s master the region first’ and ‘let’s take advantage of this base that we have in the tri-states.’ The hope is that some folks will see a taste of things that they don’t even realize exists in Hannibal.”
Approximately a dozen merchants are not only putting a sampling of their items in the mall store, but are participating in the sale of $5 Twain bills that can be redeemed at participating Hannibal businesses.
“If there are some other businesses in Hannibal who think it would work really well for them to do it too, they are more than welcome to give me a call or shoot me an e-mail (beau@visithannibal.com) and I’ll work something out,” said Hicks.
Securing the mall space will not be an expensive proposition for the CVB.
“The CVB is going to take a cut of everything sold. Out of that cut we’ll pay the mall and our staff. Basically the CVB will either make money or it will all pay for itself and be a free promotion for downtown Hannibal for the Christmas season,” said Hicks.
Hicks plans to staff the mall store with members of his CVB staff.
“I’ve been able to secure a couple of senior workers for the bureau office, which slows down dramatically in November and December,” he said. “My plan is to take some of my front-line staff, and maybe add one or two temporary part-timers, and put them up here in the mall store.
“Some of the different merchants participating have shown an interest in coming and standing out front and talking to visitors. That would be great.”
The CVB’s mall store, which will be located across from the Sears store, is tentatively scheduled to open Wednesday, Nov. 18. Its hours will coincide with the mall’s schedule, according to Hicks.
“We’ll use that store to not only make some money, but push people out of the mall and down to downtown Hannibal,” said Hicks.