By Matthew Spieler
When Max Anderson realized it could take months, years—maybe never—for any money from the government’s stimulus plan to reach his flooring business located 100 miles east of Dallas, he decided to take matters into his own hands.

So, the man who purchased the 10-year-old Whitehouse Floors & More last January created his own package that incorporated other merchants in the local area. Whitehouse is seven miles from Tyler, Tex., with a trading area of 200,000.

“We’re in Whitehouse, Tex.,” he told FCNews, “and I wanted a Whitehouse stimulus that actually worked.” And work it did. Profits not only “exceeded expectations,” the idea led Anderson to be featured on ABC’s “Good Morning America.”

So just what was his ingenious idea? “I called it, ‘Pass it On,’” he explained. The concept was simple. “If you bought flooring from us we would refund your taxes (up to $500), not to you but to another merchant of your choosing. We included a letter saying, ‘Congratulations, you’re the recipient of a tax stimulus from Whitehouse Floors & More.’ I thought it would spur business in a way that tied into the problems in Washington.”

How it worked. If a customer’s taxes came to $300, Whitehouse Floors would write a check in that amount payable to a merchant of the consumer’s choice, say XYZ Appliance. She then goes to XYZ and uses the check to help make a purchase.

Anderson didn’t want it to be a one-and-done deal, so he solicited other businesses to participate by agreeing to either do the same or to add additional discounts. Thirty merchants agreed with some opting to write a check to another merchant, while others tacked on up to 15% discounts.

While the plan sounds rather simple, getting other businesses on board was not as easy as picking up the phone, as Anderson found out. “They thought there was a catch.” So, he made personal visits. “Once I explained it in person, it was obvious there was no catch.”

Because he was still new to the community, the door-to-door sales “allowed me to make some great contacts with leading merchants in our area.”

Donnie Thedford of Don’s TV & Appliance was one of the merchants who “jumped” at the chance to participate “This was a no-brainer; there were no disadvantages not to participate.” The program has worked so well that even six months after it began people were still coming in with a rebate check.

Thedford was quick to note as a family business in the community for 30 years he would not have participated if he did not already know Whitehouse Floors. “Before [Anderson] took it over it already had a very good reputation for its integrity. Max has taken that to another level.”

To get the promotion under way, Anderson did some local radio ads. But because of its uniqueness, the local TV media picked up on it, which led to the “Good Morning America” spot.

Once word got out, he said there was no stopping the influx of customers. “People drove an hour and a half after they heard about it.” And, “most” were first-time customers for Whitehouse.

For Don’s, it was not so much as gaining new customers—after 30 years, there are just so many who could qualify as new— rather than getting consumers to come in and spend.

“Many of them were not actively in the market,” Thedford explained. Some were already on the fence and the check enticed them to come in.” As an extra incentive, he added an extra discount that amounted to the state sales tax. “This was a great way of turning a negative into a positive, and I’d certainly do it again.”

Anderson said he is open to keeping the Pass it On program going, saying he only spent about $1,000 in advertising the concept, yet has written rebate checks amounting to approximately $20,000.

“I would love to see other businesses pick up on the idea,” he concluded.