Nov. 26--Deals on flat screen TVs and fancy electronics are a staple of luring shoppers into stores on Black Friday, but what about a free ride?
A Downers Grove Buick dealership is offering an unusual gamble for shoppers if they're willing to bet on Chicago's most unpredictable element: the weather.
Bill Kay Buick GMC is calling its promotion a White Friday sale. Anyone who comes into its store Friday or Saturday and buys a new Buick or GMC vehicle gets their money back if it snows more than 6 inches on Christmas. The company says it anticipates $1 million in sales on Black Friday and that its insurance company will be the one to reimburse buyers if enough snow falls.
Bill Kay Buick GMC said the snow fall will be determined at the weather station at O'Hare International Airport. The snow must fall from 12 a.m. to 11:59 p.m. Dec. 25, the dealership said.
While meteorologists have predicted a snowy winter, the Chicago area has only a 40 to 50 percent chance of snow on Christmas, based on historical data. Since 1958, the most it has snowed on Christmas Day at O'Hare is 2.5 inches, in 1965, according to the state climatologist's office.
A similar promotion by a Mundelein jeweler didn't pan out on New Year's Day this year.
P.K. Bennett Jewelers offered future refunds totaling $150,000 to customers who made purchases from Black Friday to Christmas Eve if it snowed more than 3 inches at O'Hare between 12 a.m. and noon New Year's Day.
But during one of the snowiest winters on record, the jewelers' insurance company said it snowed 2.1 inches. The company said Wednesday it is running a similar promotion this year.
jwernau@tribpub.com
Twitter @littlewern
