Snow results in $28,000 in refunds

Denny Heidrick (left), owner of Heidrick's True Value, a local hardware store, accepts a $28,000 check from Crain Insurance representative John Crain. The money will be distributed to area residents who purchased major appliances during a two-week promotion the store ran in December. (Jason E. Silvers/Tribune)

A white Christmas will amount to green for several area residents.

Customers of Heidrick's True Value who made qualifying purchases between Black Friday and Dec. 13 will get their money back thanks to a two-week promotion the hardware store ran and a snowstorm that hit the area in early December.

Store owner Denny Heidrick said he has offered the promotion for more than 10 years, promising to refund money to qualifying customers if it snowed three or more inches on Christmas.

"Eleven years we've been doing this and this is the first time I've had to pay up," Heidrick said.

This year, customers are cashing in on the promotion for the first time after five inches of snow fell in the community on Christmas Day. Snow began falling in the region on Christmas Eve, leaving well above the three inches needed for customers to take advantage of the promotion.

Heidrick said he will return more than $28,000 to 35 customers who bought big-ticket items at the business' Fort Scott or Girard store during the promotional period.

Products that qualified included large appliances such as stoves, washers and dryers, and refrigerators. Customers needed to have paid for the items or made payment arrangements by Dec. 13, Heidrick said.

Heidrick said 35 people bought appliances during the promotion. The largest purchase made was $3,000 and the average amount spent per customer was $800. Customers will soon receive hundreds -- and in some cases, thousands -- of dollars back after the promotion.

However, the money is not coming out of Heidrick's pocket -- he paid about $1,400 for an insurance policy that covers the refunds.

Heidrick said he plans to keep using the promotion to persuade customers to buy during the two-week window of the sale.