Heritage conservation non-profit Preservation Austin launched a new program called Legacy Business Month on Oct. 1 to encourage Austinites to support local businesses.
The program provides participants with passports that guide Austinites to local legacy businesses. Participants can pick up the passports at bookstore BookPeople or brewery Zilker Taproom and go to each of the designated businesses in the passports to receive stamps.
“We are recognizing that a lot of Austin’s really treasured and beloved businesses were closing,” said Meghan King, policy and outreach planner for Preservation Austin. “We wanted to adopt this priority to proactively engage with policy and educational resources to support legacy businesses.”
Legacy businesses are businesses that have operated for over 20 years in the same location, have contributed to the city’s history or culture, and are owned by generations of the same family, according to the Preservation Austin press release.
“Traditional preservation is usually a building or a space that’s 50 years old,” King said. “It’s hard to stay in business for that long, so traditional tools often fail to address the needs of legacy businesses. We wanted to advocate for legacy businesses and create new tools.”
The non-profit selected 13 businesses: BookPeople, Broken Spoke, Carousel Lounge, Cisco’s, Deep Eddy Cabaret, the Driskill Hotel, Green & White Grocery, the Herb Bar, the Paramount Theater, Peter Pan Mini-Golf, the Playland Skate Center, Quality Seafood Market and Waterloo Records & Video.
“(The) thirteen organizations, including Paramount, truly represent some of Austin’s finest,” said Erin Welder, director of donor communications for Paramount Theatre. “Some of them are my lifelong, beloved places to patronize, and I think it’s an exciting initiative that they’ve started. I look forward to this tradition continuing for even more businesses in Austin.”
Preservation Austin hosted a kick-off party on Oct. 5. King said they gave out over 100 passports at the party.
“There are so many amazing, local businesses here in Austin that help to shape the personality of this city,” said Gina Carra, marketing manager of BookPeople. “Being bound into the Legacy Business Month passports with such pillars of our community is an incredible honor.”
The City of Austin officially proclaimed October to be Legacy Business Month as well. Joe Cascino, assistant to the mayor, and Council Member José Miguel Anwar Velásquez presented Preservation Austin with the City Council’s official proclamation at the kick-off party.
“Our legacy businesses play an important role in our community,” Cascino said in an email statement. “A lot is changing in our community very quickly. So while we grow and adapt to those changes, it’s extremely important to the mayor that we’re intentional about not only honoring our legacy businesses but also supporting and uplifting them.”
Participants will be entered into raffles to get prizes based on the number of stamps they collect. Prize packages include gift cards, merchandise and a grand prize of a hotel stay at the Driskill Hotel.
Preservation Austin will hand out prizes at their closing party on Monday at the Historic Victory Grill.
“Legacy businesses in Austin have really shaped their identity in a way that’s very unique to Austin,” King said. “These businesses embody the spirit of Austin that people love so much in so many different ways. They’re essential to the city’s identity in that way.”
