Super Bowl leads to free furniture

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BALTIMORE, Feb. 5 (UPI) -- The co-owner of a Baltimore furniture chain said the Baltimore Ravens returning a 108-yard kickoff for a touchdown cost his store $600,000.

Gary Mullaney, co-owner of Gardiners Furniture, said his store pledged any furniture purchased between Jan. 31 and 3 p.m. Sunday would be completely free if the Ravens returned a kickoff for a touchdown, and he knew his store would be swamped Monday when Jacoby Jones returned a kickoff 108 yards for a touchdown at the start of the second half, The Baltimore Sun reported Tuesday.

"This morning has just been crazy," Mullaney said Monday. "People are hearing about this all over the country."

He said the $600,000 in free furniture being given away from the store will be covered under the store's $12,000 insurance policy.

Mullaney said the promotion is worth it for the advertising benefits. He said it gets people thinking about furniture during a weekend when attention is typically focused elsewhere.

"We're not a bar. We're not a restaurant. During the Super Bowl, no one says, 'Hey let's go to the furniture store,'" Mullaney said. "It was just our small way of being able to participate in the hoopla."