Nearly 2,000 Chicago area Art Van shoppers to get furniture for free after blizzard

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Nearly 2,000 shoppers who purchased furniture from one of six local Art Van Furniture stores will get a big refund after the blizzard dumped more than 19 inches of snow on the Chicago area.

Art Van said customers bought more than $2 million worth of merchandise from stores in Batavia, Bedford Park, Chicago, Orland Park, Woodridge (Bolingbrook) and Merrillville on Jan. 1, 2, 3 and 17.

Michigan-based Art Van Furniture ran a "Let It Snow" promotion that said if it snowed more than 3 inches on Sunday, furniture, mattress and TV purchases would be free. The National Weather Service said totals topped that level on Feb. 1 with 16.2 inches of snow measured in Chicago.

Art Van said nearly 3,000 customers participated in the promotion in Illinois, Indiana and Ohio, for a total of more than $2.5 million in purchases.

In a statement over the weekend, company founder Art Van Elslander said, "Our goal was to usher in winter with fanfare, fun and lots of free furniture."

The chain plans to notify customers Tuesday.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.