Dogtown, the neighborhood surrounding Drake University, is participating in a Dogtown Passport initiative to encourage engagement between students and community members throughout April.
The passport includes a list of businesses in Dogtown; participants need to have their passports validated with stickers at 10 businesses to receive a Dogtown t-shirt at Nos Books. Passports can be found in participating businesses, including the Bulldog Shop, Lucky Horse Beer & Burgers, Dough Co. Pizza, Hilal Groceries, Fernando’s Mexican Grill, Gursha Ethiopian Grill and Mars Cafe.
The passports also include special offers and deals. For example, the passport has a coupon for $5 off a $30 purchase at Lucky Horse and a 10% off coupon at Drake Diner.
Nate Reagen, chief of staff at Drake, said that the idea came from Dogtown business owners during a monthly meeting. Reagen worked with local advertising agency Choice Creative to design and print the passports, and neighborhood revitalizing program Invest DSM to fund the t-shirts.
Reagan sees the passports as a chance to bring more student awareness to local businesses.
“With no purchase necessary [to earn stickers] and 10 different places required, this is all about getting people to cross the threshold at places they haven’t been. Once you walk in … people are much more likely to come back. Since Dogtown has so much to offer, we’re trying to create more awareness and community,” Reagen said in an email interview.
Reagan says that Dogtown owners would love to see more student support.
“We celebrate our neighborhood because as Dogtown is successful, so is Drake and vice-versa,” Reagen said. “Supporting Dogtown also builds our local economy, is a more sustainable choice, gives back to the local community and supports local job growth.”
Malique Miller, business partner in Mars Cafe, believes the passport will help introduce new places to students’ daily routines.
“It’s really easy to go to your normal, kind of commercial franchise spots,” Miller said. “This [initiative] creates a lot of opportunity for you to shop locally and interact with your community in a way that maybe you didn’t realize you could.”
As Miller flipped through the passport, he realized that there were some businesses included that he hadn’t visited before.
“It’s a great opportunity to have people in the community engage with places that they maybe haven’t interacted with,” Miller said.
As the owner of Nos Books, the final destination where participants turn in their passports for the free t-shirt prize, Luis Lujan hopes the initiative will bring more students to the relatively new business.
“Awareness is key,” Lujan said. “We want to encourage students to leave campus and explore what’s around the area within walking distance.”
Lujan also mentioned that greater student awareness of the businesses in Dogtown might generate long-term interest in future businesses as well.
“We’ve got institutions like the Varsity [Cinema] and restaurants, but we’re also hoping to bring more boutique and retail locations here,” Lujan said. “We would like students to know what’s here and the potential for what may come.”
Miller, a Drake alumnus, holds a lot of care for the Dogtown neighborhood.
“Dogtown as a whole has some richness that’s coming to life year after year. It’s beautiful to see the people who love and believe in this area,” Miller said.
Miller stressed that Mars Cafe doesn’t prioritize profit as much as it does curating a third space for community members to congregate in.
“I believe when you grow your community, your business follows. We’ve never had to stress about that part,” Miller said.
Promotion for the Dogtown passport has also appeared on the OnCampus newsletter and on social media. The passport initiative runs through the month of April. The quantity of free t-shirts available is limited.
