Big snow = free jewelry
BETHANY BLITZ/PressGinny Semler of Liberty lake looks at the jewelry cases in Clark’s Diamond Jewelers on Sherman Ave. Friday. The store is running a promotion where anyone who bought something from them between Black Friday and Christmas Eve will get their money back if it snows three inches or more on New Year’s Eve.
BETHANY BLITZ/PressRich and Ginny Semler, from Liberty Lake, stopped by Clark’s Diamond Jewelers Friday to exchange the necklace and earrings Rich got for Ginny for her birthday. The jewelry store is running a promotion where people who bought anything in the store between Black Friday and Christmas Eve can get their money back if it snows three inches or more in Coeur d’Alene on New Year’s Eve.
Most people will be watching the ball drop in New York tonight. But others will be looking up the day’s cumulative snowfall in Coeur d’Alene to see if they won Clark’s Diamond Jewelers’ “Let it Snow” promotion.
Anyone who bought something from the store between Black Friday and Christmas Eve has a chance to get all their money back if it snows 3 inches before midnight tonight.
“There’s so much fun in giving everybody their money back — it’s great,” said Dan Clark, co-owner of the jewelry store. “I hope we get 6 inches; it’d be a slam dunk!”
The store did the same promotion for a few years in the early 2000s, and in 2005 it paid up. Clark said after that year, the company’s insurance company wouldn’t cover them anymore, so they had to give it up for a few years.
But this year, they were able to get back at it.
“It’s not about the total amount of money or just one person winning the big prize,” Clark said. “We’re all in this together and it’s going to be close.”
Clark said the store’s goal was to sell $400,000 during the contest period. He wasn’t sure how close it came to that.
Cliff Harris, Coeur d’Alene climatologist, is the official snow watcher for “Let it Snow.”
“It’s going to be close,” Harris agreed. “It shows for moderate accumulation, which is 3 to 4 inches at least.
“It’s all about timing; right now it looks like the storm will hit in the evening, but it could stall and hit after midnight.”
If it does snow 3 inches New Year’s Eve day, Clark’s Diamond Jewelers will notify all its customers who made purchases between Black Friday and Christmas Eve, including non-jewelry items.
Customers will have to come into the store and verify their purchase before getting their money back.
In 2005, Clark said a lot of people who got their money back spent it on more jewelry, like a matching necklace to go with the earrings they had bought earlier.
“Valentine’s Day is right around the corner,” he said. “We’ll see if we hit 3 inches. We have our fingers crossed.”