More than 400 people might get a belated Christmas present from Springer’s Jewelers.
For 11 years, the company has been running a “Let it Snow” promotion around the holidays. If 6 inches of snow falls at the company’s Portsmouth, New Hampshire, store on Christmas Day, all in-store purchases of jewelry at the company’s three stores between Nov. 24 and Dec. 9 will be refunded. The company has never before had to pay out.
This year, a Christmas Day snowstorm dumped white powder on much of New Hampshire and Maine. The National Weather Service predicted 3 to 7 inches for Portsmouth. The official total is still unclear, however, and the jewelry store said results of a third-party analysis will not be released until Jan. 5.
“We would love to give this back to our customers,” said Zoe Beaulieu, vice president of Springer’s Jewelers.
Beaulieu said more than 400 customers shopped at the jewelry stores during the promotional window. They bought almost $1 million worth of products – from $30 seasonal ornaments to Rolex watches that cost more than $10,000.
Beaulieu said the company is insured for the event, so it will not lose revenue if it has to refund purchases. The rules this year put the cap on individual refunds at $10,000.
“We want this to happen,” she said. “Every single year we’ve done this, we’ve been fully behind it. We’re fully insured, so we’re not losing anything. We’re only gaining something really special for our customers.”
Springer’s Jewelers contracts with Weather Analytics LLC to confirm the snow total. The Dover, New Hampshire-based firm wasn’t standing on Market Street in Portsmouth with a ruler, however.
Cyrena Arnold, the senior director of product services at Weather Analytics, said the firm uses satellite imagery, live radar data and other measures to calculate exact volumes of precipitation.
“In close calls, we have it reviewed by multiple meteorologists,” Arnold said.
“There’s a lot of pressure, for sure,” she added.
The National Weather Service issued a list of unofficial snow totals for Monday’s storm, but it doesn’t include Portsmouth. Elsewhere in New Hampshire’s Rockingham County, the results were mixed. A trained spotter recorded 8.3 inches in Derry, and another got 6.8 inches in Brentwood. Closer to the coast, however, just 3 inches fell in Exeter. Across the Piscataqua River and up the coast in Maine, snow totals in Cape Neddick and Ogunquit were also at 3 inches.
The official results will be announced Jan. 5 on the Springer’s Jewelers website. According to the official rules, qualifying customers will need to present a receipt and an ID at the store where they made their purchase to claim a refund. Springer’s Jewelers has three stores – in Portsmouth, Portland and Bath.
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