Local businesses are cashing in on a simple concept designed to keep consumers’ money downtown – and it’s in the form of a gift card.

The Des Moines downtown gift card program has one main goal – keeping money downtown – and it seems to be working. In 2011, the Des Moines Downtown Chamber of Commerce, which has partnered with Bankers Trust Co. to sell the cards, sold nearly 2,500 cards totaling almost $90,000.

The cards encourage Greater Des Moines residents to patronize downtown restaurants, bars, coffeehouses and retail establishments, said Kevin Tiernan, vice president of consumer services at Bankers Trust and downtown chamber vice president. But more important, the money on the cards goes directly to the establishments where it’s spent, which in turn benefits the local economy.

The program has been around since 2007 and was originally launched by the Downtown Community Alliance (DCA). The group’s marketing and public relations director, Amy Baker, said she wanted to utilize downtown gift cards in Des Moines after hearing about the success of a similar program in Boise, Idaho, at a national conference.

“Not all gift cards are created equal – with this, your money stays downtown,” she said.

She said the DCA pushed to get the cards out before the holidays and sold about $30,000 worth of cards the first month. The yearly totals have steadily increased since 2007, with almost $37,000 worth of cards sold in December 2011.

After taking the necessary steps to create and expand the downtown gift card program, the DCA started the transition of handing it off to the chamber in 2010.

“It was established and we felt like we had it ready to go,” Baker said. “That’s what (the DCA does). We grow it and move it to the next level, but when it was getting too big for us, we found the perfect opportunity to pass it off to the chamber and Bankers Trust.”

Downtown Chamber Executive Director Jennifer Chittenden deemed the $89,925 worth of cards sold in 2011 a success, pointing out that this was the first year the chamber oversaw the program and sales totals were on a par with the previous year, when it was under DCA.

Chittenden said the group was happy to take over the program and hopes more downtown retailers and eateries will sign on.

“It obviously provides immediate exposure to those merchants that participate,” she said. “It’s a beautiful way to highlight downtown and the treasures that go with it.”

Now with more than 100 downtown merchants participating, including Principal Park, the Civic Center of Greater Des Moines and the Iowa Events Center, chamber President Tony Timm said the gift cards provide a way for local businesses to start an ongoing relationship with their customers.

“They’ll go back with or without a gift card,” he said.

A little more than $61,000 of the gift cards purchased in 2011 have been redeemed so far, and restaurants seem to be the most popular choice for shoppers to cash them in.

Downtown favorites Centro and Django redeemed 463 cards totaling $8,722 and 122 cards totaling $5,060, respectively. Alba restaurant in East Village redeemed 37 cards totaling around $1,800 and Court Avenue Restaurant and Brewing Co. collected 118 cards totaling $3,226.

Court Avenue Brewing Managing Partner Scott Carlson said, for him, the program was easy to embrace.

“It’s a nice thing, and we don’t have to manage it,” he said.

Carlson said the restaurant first got involved with the program when it debuted in 2007 and has been happy with the results.

“It’s a closed-loop system, and it’s a neat way to encourage people to think about downtown,” he said. “When local dollars are spent, those dollars come right back in and benefit the community.”