Jordan’s giveaway requires Red Sox to sweep Series
Odds are longer but not impossible, says CEO
Clint Engel -- Furniture Today, March 24, 2008
BOSTON — Jordan’s Furniture customers will have another shot at free furniture this year, but the bar has been set higher.
Last year, the official furniture store of the Boston Red Sox promised free products if the Sox won pro baseball’s World Series.
This time the Red Sox will have to sweep all four games of the Series — like they did last year — for customers to get their money back on sofas, sectionals, dining room tables, beds, mattresses and rug purchases made between March 25 and April 27.
“We are thrilled to once again to partner with the Red Sox,” said Eliot Tatelman, president and CEO of four-store, Taunton, Mass.-based Jordan’s, part of Berkshire Hathaway’s furniture division. “Including our customers in the partnership through this promotion is a win-win situation.”
Consecutive sweeps of the World Series are not unheard of, although only one team — the Red Sox’ arch nemesis New York Yankees — have managed to do it. The Yankees swept the World Series in 1927 and 1928, again in 1938 and 1939 and then in 1998 and 1999.
As it did in 2007, Jordan’s took out an insurance policy for its Monster Sweep 2008 promotion.
Tatelman said he hopes to do double the business of last year’s promotion. More than 24,000 customers got rebate checks for their purchases as a result of the 2007 event. He declined to say how much business was generated last year, although early on Jordan’s said the event was insured for about $20 million and that results were expected to top that.
After the big 2007 giveaway, Tatelman was asked if Jordan’s would do it again, and he responded that there could be a few obstacles. “Would you insure it?” he asked.
Indeed, that’s one of the reasons the odds have been raised this year by requiring a sweep. But Tatelman said that the Red Sox’ past two World Series wins were sweeps and that since 1989, 39% of the Series wins have been sweeps.
“It’s still pretty good odds,” he said. Right now, odds makers place the Red Sox’ chances of winning the Series at four to one, Tatelman said. He didn’t know the odds for a sweep.
Jordan’s is using the same insurance company as last year, but Tatelman declined to name it.
The retailer is counting on the success of last year’s promotion to drive this year’s event.
“It was so big last year. We got so much publicity and there were so many people who didn’t participate, but everyone knew somebody who did,” he said. “The people who didn’t participate are all kicking themselves, so I think it’s going to force them to come in this year.”
Jordan’s is piling on that sense of urgency by running commercials that show consumers holding up their rebate checks from last year.
“It’s not going to make somebody buy furniture that doesn’t need furniture. Nothing is going to do that,” he said. “But what we’re hoping is people who are in the market will say this is the time to do it. I think it’s going to excite people to buy this year. We’re playing on that.”
The free publicity already is rolling. Tatelman announced the promotion Monday morning, dressed in a full Red Sox uniform in Fenway Park, and all the local media were there. He was on his way to more media interviews late in the day.
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