The snow bet has been a tradition at the Hartlauer company since 1996. But this year, the retail chain Steyr let go of this – for the first time. The “Krone” knows the reasons.
If it snows at noon on December 24, a wheel of fortune determines whether customers in the respective state capital with even or odd receipt numbers will get their Christmas shopping invoices back – for example, the snow bet, which Hartlauer has had since 1996, works in slightly reduced form.
But this year, customers are missing the shopping tradition that has made the store chain in Steyr, Austria, so popular. Reason: corona!
In the previous year there had been a snow bet, but the lockdowns seriously inhibited the desire to shop. The costs for the snow bet, for which the company takes out insurance, were enormous, but the effect was small. This year, too, there was great uncertainty for a long time about how the pandemic would develop and what that meant for retail.
Comeback, “if the terms and conditions are right”
The result: the snow bet was abandoned. A comeback is planned for 2023. “As long as the terms and conditions are correct,” says entrepreneur Robert Hartlauer.
Source: Krone
I’m Ben Stock, a journalist and author at Today Times Live. I specialize in economic news and have been working in the news industry for over five years. My experience spans from local journalism to international business reporting. In my career I’ve had the opportunity to interview some of the world’s leading economists and financial experts, giving me an insight into global trends that is unique among journalists.
