$2K+ in prizes will be hidden in Charlotte for a scavenger hunt. Here are the details
The day we set aside to honor the most important women in our lives is quickly approaching. As COVID-19 restrictions start to lessen, there’s hope that Mother’s Day might be celebrated outside of our homes this year. You can take mom to a nice dinner on a patio, purchase a beautiful bouquet of her favorite flowers or shower her with affection for 24 hours straight.
If the old way of celebrating Mother’s Day just won’t cut it anymore, CLT Scavenger Hunt promises to get you out the house and into some friendly competition as you travel throughout the Queen City to hunt for prizes for mom.
“Because of the Mother’s Day theme, we’re going to be encouraging the hunter to give prizes to mom,” Jules & Vetiver founder Katrina Sellers said. “We included the prizes, locations and brands we thought that would be ‘mom centric.’ Things that would make for a great Mother’s Day gift. You can keep the prize for yourself, but the way we are framing it is you’re supposed to give it to your mom.”
Sellers and founder of VUE by SEK, Sarah Kaplan, co-pilot CLT Scavenger Hunt, which was born as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. Many businesses struggled, especially those with physical locations, and the two women created the hunt as a way to support local businesses and sustain camaraderie among business owners.
“It occurred to me that it would be fun to create some sort of marketing game that would give an opportunity for people to have some fun and visit some of these locations,” Sellers said. “Some of them were brand new. Toward the end of the summer, restrictions started to ease up a bit where shoppers would enter stores, but sales for some of these places were nowhere near what it was pre-pandemic.”
Sellers’ almost 4-year-old daughter was sort of the inspiration because Sellers thought about a scavenger hunt for her, then a light bulb went off.
“It clicked to me that it would be pretty cool to frame it that way and give people an excuse to kind of explore the city again,” she said. “So, we contacted a few fellow business owners to see who would be interested, and we put it together.”
The first hunt — which took place over the course of one week — in August 2020 was successful. Immediately following the event, businesses and hunters were ready for a second hunt. Sellers was surprised by the level of competitiveness, however.
“What was most shocking doing it the first time around was people are scary smart, and when there’s prizes involved, no matter how small, people get crazy competitive, she said “We had people who got very involved.”
The CLT Scavenger Hunt team members said they learned many lessons following the first event. This year’s hunt is not your average scavenger hunt. In the days leading up to Mother’s Day — Friday, May 7 and Saturday, May 8 — about 30 local brands and businesses will team up to give away a total of over $2,500 worth of prizes to hunters.
Among the list of local businesses are Lilly Greenthumbs, Charlotte Candle Company and Cilantro Noodle. The family owned and operated Vietnamese restaurant is contributing two Cilantro gift card prizes, worth $50 and $75.
“Our regulars have championed us during a year that was unprecedented for all small businesses,” Cilantro co-owner Steve Ly said through a representative. “We are excited to give back to them in a fun way, but also hoping that the hunt will introduce new customers who maybe haven’t discovered Cilantro.”
How to play
All you have to do is keep an eye on Instagram each day and wait for Mother’s Day-themed clues to be posted. Once you correctly interpret the location the clue refers to, then it’s game on. It’s up to you to safely arrive at the location to claim your prize. The catch is this — you have to be one of the first three people to get there to win a prize.
In some cases, the business may offer consolation prizes to late hunters. The plan is to post all of the locations and participating brands at the end of each day.
“We’re trying to build as much incentive as possible for people to continue to go to the location throughout the day and not just say, ‘I heard the prizes were claimed,’ and no one wants to go anymore,” Sellers said.
Last year’s hunt has brands and hunters excited for the Mother’s Day hunt.
“We thought it would be fun for the inhabitants of the Queen City and good for us business owners to get some additional attention and additional love.”
This story was originally published April 2, 2021 at 6:19 PM.
