B & B Innkeepers Help Put Finishing Touches On Lowes Promotion

More than 660 bed & breakfast inns in 47 states are participating in the 'Celebrating America with American Tradition® promotion with Lowe's Home Improvement Warehouses.

NASHVILLE -- A nationwide campaign in Lowes Home Improvement Warehouse stores -- called 'Celebrating America with American Tradition® -- promotes the chains American Tradition line of paints. The focal point of the promotion is a sweepstakes launching today in nearly 800 Lowes stores nationwide. Prizes range from Lowes "Power of Pride" caps for 2500 Second Prize winners to the Grand Prize: a two-year lease on a 2003 Chevrolet Corvette.

Whats the First Prize? 500 lucky people will each win a two-night bed & breakfast stay for two at a participating member inn of Bed & Breakfast Inns ONLINE. A special sweepstakes area of the site lets web visitors and sweepstakes entrants explore the participating inns. Once the winners are chosen, theyll return to BBOnline (pronounced 'bee-bee-online) to choose a bed and breakfast for their free getaway.

More than 660 inns in 47 states are participating, according to Randy Fought, founder and C.E.O. of Bed & Breakfast Inns ONLINE. "The Celebrating America sweepstakes will bring bed & breakfast inns to the attention of thousands of Lowes customers," says Fought, whose 7 year-old Nashville firm provides a home on the Internet for some 4,000 bed & breakfasts and country inns across the US, Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean. Innkeeper Marcia Harwell of the Tellico Inn, in Tellico Plains, Tennessee, believes that bed and breakfasts have a special appeal with the public right now. "I firmly believe that since 9/11, folks are wanting to get back to the basics by relaxing and traveling Americas back roads," she says.

Many inns participating in the sweepstakes are historic properties. Carol and Peter Molnar spent five years restoring their 1886 Victorian Margaretville Mountain Inn in Upstate New York, becoming well acquainted with the staff at Lowes in the process. "Lowes products and their employees were instrumental in this successful restoration project," says Carol Molnar. "Things have to be just so, and Lowes was always able to rise to the occasion." As of this April, the Margaretville Mountain Inn is officially listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

Nancy Lamar Countess of the historic Countess Rose House 1910 Bed & Breakfast Inn says, "Im just about to paint the exterior of my B&B, using the American Tradition Wild Rose shade, so Im twice as excited." Countess offers a 2-night stay in the Whitney Honeymoon Room of her Hillsboro, Texas inn to a lucky Lowes winner, describing it as "my best room." American Tradition paints are certified historically accurate by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, and Lowes donates a portion of all American Tradition sales to the National Trusts nationwide preservation efforts.

Owners of brand new inns depend on Lowes too. In Wattsburg, Pennsylvania, Karen Rzepecki of the TimberMist Bed & Breakfast says, "All our rooms are painted with American Tradition paints." She and her husband Steve are remodeling a room for use as a spa, and they plan to stay with Lowes when its time to paint. "I already have the colors picked out," says Karen.

Kathy King, of the lately opened Black Bear Trace Bed & Breakfast in Athens, Tennessee, says, "I could probably be a commercial for Lowes as I built this inn last year and bought most of my supplies there. My kitchen, appliances, bathrooms, tile -- all from Lowes." Larry and Sandee Wright, of the Timberwolf Creek Bed & Breakfast in Maggie Valley, North Carolina bought and renovated their guesthouse in 2000. Sandee Wright says, "In our little mountain town, Lowe's is the nearest home improvement store." After searching big city stores from Asheville to Orlando for better price and selection, the Wrights decided that the local Lowes couldnt be beat. Sandee concludes, "Theyre the best."

Jim Gowran and Ray Riker own and operate the Kirby House Bed & Breakfast in Saugatuck, Michigan. When they bought and renovated the inn in 1998, they chose American Tradition paint. "The parlor has beautiful quartersawn oak trim, so we selected a dramatic red shade called Ruby Lips to enhance the dark wood," says Jim Gowran. The paint was wonderful to work with, so we used American Tradition in the dining room, kitchen and back stairway." The Kirby House site at BBOnline features a virtual tour that lets visitors preview the inn with a click of the mouse.

To enter the sweepstakes, visit the 'Celebrating America with American Tradition display in the paint department of any Lowes Home Improvement Warehouse (there are nearly 800 Lowes stores in nationwide), or click the 'Celebrating America with American Tradition link at Bed & Breakfast Inns ONLINE. The entry period runs from August 28 through September 22, with winners chosen at random.
###