PIXIE POWER big love for small businesses
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rome has always championed independent business – it is something we are renowned for. And if you frequent these businesses, you may well have noticed signs for Pixie when you are paying. But do you know what Pixie is? Put simply, it is a reward system that benefits you and the businesses you shop in. You put funds into your Pixie account and get a percentage of your purchase back in cashback on every purchase you make with your Pixie Card. It’s real cash, so, unlike points or other rewards, it never expires or loses its value. Every independent business on Pixie sets their own cashback percentage. Once you download the Pixie app you’ll be able to explore a large number of local, independent businesses who are signed up in your area. And you are away, shopping locally, supporting people who help make your local area vibrant and independent, and earning cashback each time you do! But Pixie is much more than a rewards card. From the very beginning, the ethos behind the business has been its driving force. We met up with Pixie founder, Greg Barden, to find out more. Here is his story:
“More often than not, in my case, that common ground was the need or desire to trade. The simple act of wanting to buy something from someone who wants to sell what they have made is the foundation of our communities. But what we see, with the digital revolution, is the dehumanising of trade, where we no longer connect through what we buy; this tradition has been replaced with mass-produced, impersonal experiences. And in doing so, we are losing the common ground that brings us together. “That’s why Pixie is creating a local world where we can come together and trade on common ground with people who, like you, yearn for human connection, where quality and passion are as important as making a profit. And through them we get to experience different cultures and opinions, which as Mark Twain stated ‘is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness’. So as I look back to my days abroad, from buying bread from a baker in LashkaGah in Afghanistan to coffee beans from the bazaar in Baghdad, I had no idea how those experiences, that connected me with different people and their stories, would come to be the core idea behind Pixie. That idea being: humanity.
“In my early, to mid-twenties, I served in the UK Special Forces across many different countries. During this time I learned first hand how, with the right common ground, it doesn’t matter who you are or where you’re from - the barriers that we put up out of fear can be quickly dismantled, and meaningful connections made even in the most unlikely situations.
“The simple act of wanting to buy something from someone who wants to sell what they have made is the foundation of our communities.”
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THE LIST FROME
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Frome Hardware, a Pixie registered Frome business
