Portland businesses hope 'Win Big' campaign will boost holiday foot traffic.

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Businesses in downtown Portland still have walls boarded up with plywood one week after the U.S. presidential election in preparation for potential unrest. However, business owners want to share the message they're feeling hopeful things are looking up.

One of the ways businesses are banding together to hopefully increase foot traffic is the "Win Big" holiday shopping campaign. More than 100 stores and businesses across the city are participating in the sweepstakes wherein shoppers can enter a raffle to win things like Trail Blazers tickets, roundtrip flights, hotel stays and more in exchange for visits and purchases. It lasts until Dec. 15.

The Win Big website has more details about the sweepstakes, including a detailed map of participating locations, which includes businesses all over the city — not just downtown.

However, the downtown business owners are hoping a campaign like this can help reshape the narrative of this area. This comes as KOIN 6 News has learned from many people who don't live in or around downtown that they are wary of visiting it due to nervousness surrounding the election, citing riots that happened during previous election cycles.

Event Cosmetics Owner Katherine Sealy said she hopes people will come to know downtown as the family-friendly destination she knows it as.

"I always think if it's safe enough for me and my staff, then it's safe enough for you and your family," Sealy said. "I really believe if we take up space and we're productive citizens, engaging and living our lives, enjoying services, dining out, getting back to what brings us joy, especially during the holiday season, that a lot of the things that ail the city, we will replace that with our very presence and our engagement in the city."

Sealy said having Event Cosmetics and other shops participate in the Win Big campaign is a way businesses are looking out "for each other down here."

"That brings foot traffic into the quarter and helps us celebrate the holiday season," she said.

The holiday season is when some businesses make nearly 50% of their revenue for the entire year.

Bricks Need Mortar Founder and CEO Sarah Shaoul said businesses have certainly felt the "negative effect" of people's hesitation about coming downtown.

"Doesn't matter what the politics are. It's just an election year tends to be — people don't really spend when there's uncertainty," Shaoul said. "I think, you know, perception is everything. And if you look for the worst, you're going to find the worst anywhere you go."