 | CONNELL GRANGE SUPPLY WHERE THE CUSTOMER IS STILL THE COMPANY |
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04/03 11:26 CDT A New England furniture store will refund customers if both
UConn teams make the NCAA title games
A New England furniture store will refund customers if both UConn teams make
the NCAA title games
By DAVE COLLINS
Associated Press
College basketball players aren't the only ones poised to win big in this
year's March Madness.
A New England furniture chain is offering to reimburse customers for products
purchased earlier this year if both the UConn men's and women's basketball
teams reach the championship games.
That means some 20,000 Jordan's Furniture customers could be fully repaid for
$50 million worth of sales if the two teams win their Final Four games on
Friday and Saturday.
For Brian Mazzilli of Plymouth, Massachusetts, that could mean a $3,800 refund
for a living room sofa and coffee table. Not previously a college sports fan,
he has declared himself an enthusiastic new follower of the Huskies.
"We thought the chances were pretty slim, but now we're pretty excited,"
Mazzilli said in the aftermath of the UConn men's stunning buzzer-beater win
over Duke in last weekend's Elite Eight. "It just didn't seem that both teams
from one school making it to the finals --- that seems kind of a long shot."
When UConn's Braylon Mullins hit the winning, 35-foot shot to beat Duke,
Mazzilli said he was jumping up and down like he did when the Patriots' Adam
Vinatieri kicked the winning, last-second field goal against the Rams in the
2002 Super Bowl to give New England its first NFL title.
Jordan's isn't on the hook for the $50 million itself. It got insurance for the
promotion like it did in 2007 when it offered a similar deal if the Boston Red
Sox won the World Series --- which they did. In that deal, more than 24,000
customers were reimbursed about $35 million.
"We want this to happen," Eliot Tatelman, the retired president of Jordan's who
is still the face of the Massachusetts-based retailer in TV ads, said in a
phone interview Thursday. "Whether they win or lose, I got to pay for the
insurance."
Tatelman said he came up with the UConn promotion idea while thinking of ways
to increase the company's stature in Connecticut, where other furniture
businesses have been around longer.
The promotion was offered to customers who bought furniture, mattresses and
accessories at Jordan's from Jan. 20 to Feb. 16 of this year, with some
exceptions. The company will send out refund checks if both UConn teams make it
to the championship games.
Jordan's, incorporated in 1928 in Waltham, Massachusetts, by Tatelman's
grandfather, has eight retail locations in New England. The company was sold to
Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway in 1999. It's known for entertainment
attractions at its stores --- including IMAX 3D movie theaters, a rope course
and, in Reading, Massachusetts, depictions of Boston landmarks made of millions
of jelly beans.
The undefeated, No. 1-seeded UConn women take on South Carolina in the Final
Four on Friday night, while the men's team --- a No. 2 seed --- plays Illinois
on Saturday.
