On Aug. 3, the Santa Fe Chamber of Commerce trumpeted a new program offering “aggressive discounts” to Chamber members who shop at Office Depot—free delivery on orders of more than $50, and “Special Discounts on Copy, Print and Promotional Items.”
To Vicki Pozzebon, executive director of the Santa Fe Alliance, something was fishy.
“We knew it was an incentive program where they get a kickback,” Pozzebon tells SFR.
Indeed, Chamber President and CEO Simon Brackley tells SFR, “There is a slight benefit to the Chamber—a financial reward” but declined to quantify. “I’m not going to go into the details of it,” he says. So far, between 10 and 50 Chamber members have taken advantage of the promotion, Brackley says.
But to Pozzebon, the Office Depot deal does more harm than good.
“It’s promoting a big-box chain store in our community when we have our very own, locally-owned, independent office supply store that has its own great incentive programs,” she notes. Take
, Pozzebon offers: “Free delivery on every order,” no $50 ante required.
