LAKE COUNTY – Shop, Stay & Play, Lake County's “shop local” program and Web site, opened its "back door" to Lake County businesses this week.

Any Lake County business wishing to participate is asked to go to www.shopstayplay.com and sign up on the mailing list as a business owner.

They will then be sent an email with instructions on how to enter the site's back door to post their business profile, and how to "stock the shelves" with "outrageous deals" (heavily discounted items shoppers can purchase right from the Shop, Stay and Play Web site).

"We're very excited about the possibilities for this program to improve local business revenue," says Melissa Fulton, chief executive officer of the Lake County Chamber of Commerce. "We believe Shop, Stay & Play will be attractive to both our residents looking to save money and time by shopping locally; and to the Lake County visitor wanting to shop, stay and play in our beautiful county."

The Web site will be supported by intensive online and offline marketing campaigns designed to drive traffic to the website.

"We want to make sure businesses are successful with Shop, Stay & Play,” Fulton explained. “We're also going to provide a wide range of educational programs to instruct merchants on how to profitably use all the features on Shop, Stay & Play Web site."

Businesses who sign up for Shop, Stay & Play will be emailed a free e-book, "7 Steps to Creating a Kick-Butt Outrageous Deal" that will instruct them how to create deals that are not only alluring to customers, but also make financial sense to the business owner.

"At some point we will be charging for membership," continued Fulton, "but for now we're allowing any business in Lake County to sign up for our most expensive plan for free so they can get familiar with the site and see how it can work for them. It will also give us a chance to build the site's popularity, so our merchants will have more opportunities to attract shoppers to their online outrageous deals and their physical Lake County storefront."

The Shop, Stay & Play website will be open for business for shoppers in early June. An open house for Shop, Stay & Play will be held at the Chamber office, 875 Lakeport Blvd. at Vista Point in Lakeport on Thursday, June 10, at 6 p.m. Businesses wishing more information are invited to attend. Refreshments will be available.

Business participation on Shop, Stay & Play is open to any business (including home-based businesses) located within Lake County, Calif. You do not need to be a member of the Lake County Chamber of Commerce to join.

For more information, contact the Lake County Chamber of Commerce at 866-525-3767 or by email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..