(Publisher’s Note: This story appeared earlier this year after Jason Wilson from Wilson Furniture distributed free furniture to customers who made their purchases during a certain time period because more than five inches of snow fell at the Pittsburgh International Airport. According to the National Weather Service, it does not appear as if Wilson will be forced to deal with the same this year.)
Free furniture continues to fly out of the door at Wilson Furniture after five inches of snow fell in the Upper Ohio Valley on Christmas Day.
That was the deal, right?
“That was the deal,” said Jason Wilson, owner and operator of Wilson Furniture on N. Lincoln Avenue in Bridgeport, a retail business with more than 100 years of history in the village. “It’s been exciting to see when the customers come in, and they find out that they really are getting their furniture for free.
“We had run the ‘Free Furniture’ promotion for about for our 25 years. My father, Charlie Wilson, came up with the idea when we were looking at marketing ideas, and we wanted to do something different,” Jason explained. “We wanted to distinguish Wilson Furniture here in the Valley as a family-owned furniture store that has everything a family could need for their homes. We definitely thought it was possible for it to snow on Christmas Day, but this is the first time that it snowed on Christmas, and people are getting free furniture.”
Close to $100K
As a part of the promotion at Wilson Furniture, it would take much more than a dusting of snow to trigger the “free” aspect. In fact, it would take four inches of the white stuff for fewer than 30 customers to get their sofas, chairs, beds, and end tables without a single dollar.
But again, first time, so the insurance company scrambled to verify the exact amount of sleigh-friendly precipitation.
“The only concerns we had was how much did it actually snow, and where was the measurement going to take place,” Wilson explained. “For a lot of years, the measurement was performed at the Pike Island Dam, but we found out they no longer do that, so then we looked toward the Pittsburgh area, and they settled on the Pittsburgh International Airport.
“The airport was the closest federally monitored weather station, and they measured it had snowed a little more than five inches,” he said. “Once the insurance company determined that measurement, they told us the policy had been triggered and that a number of our customers would be receiving their furniture for free.”
To the tune of $100,000, that is.
“Any time you do this type of a promotion, you have to buy the insurance policy, so that’s exactly what we have always done,” Wilson explained. “The rules of the policy stipulated that the free furniture would go to customers that purchased their furniture between Dec. 4 to Dec. 17, and we had to submit the paperwork to the insurance company.
“So, no, there was never any concern that it would actually snow that much on Christmas Day. I know I was rooting for it to happen when I first saw the forecast for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day,” he said. “And apparently it had been a long time since we experienced a White Christmas in this area. I don’t think anyone really realized how long it had been.”
What Would Charlie Say?
It was in 2006 when Jason’s father, Charlie, decided to run to represent the 6th Congressional District in Ohio after Ted Strickland opted to run for governor in the Buckeye State. Following confusion concerning collected signatures of supporters, Wilson won 66 percent of the primary vote as a write-in candidate, and then the Democrat was victorious in the general election.
Wilson, who also served in Ohio’s Senate and House, was re-elected in 2008, but then he was defeated by current U.S. Rep. Bill Johnson in 2010 and again in 2012. On April 14, 2013, Charlie suddenly passed away while vacationing in West Palm Beah, Fla. He was 70 years old.
“We miss my father very much every day, but we have continued what he had started here at Wilson Furniture and at our funeral home,” Jason said. “But, as far as my father, I think two things. The first thing is that he likely said, ‘Jason did it again,’ because I’ve been known for doing things out of the box. And number 2, I think he would say that in today’s world it’s difficult to be in any business and that he was proud that we have kept it going, and we’re doing well.
“I think the customers that won the furniture have been patient because we are still waiting for some of the items to come in. That’s why Christmas isn’t over yet at Wilson Furniture,” he added. “We have experienced more delays than ever because of the pandemic, but we have communicated with those customers so they know exactly what’s going on. But all in all, I think a lot of people were excited because people were actually getting free furniture because we had that much snow on Christmas Day, and I believe next year when we do the promotion again, we may see even more people come to the store for their furniture.”
