Two enormous companies own home improvement in America. You know both names. They are everywhere, they are well run, and they have more capital than any regional competitor could dream of.
And yet in a large stretch of the middle of the country, a private family company holds its ground against both.
No stock ticker. Very little national advertising. A jingle that people in fourteen states can sing on command and nobody else has ever heard.
And one strange weapon that sounds like a gimmick and functions like a loyalty program with an interest-free loan attached.
The rebate.
Eleven percent off, sometimes, on everything in the store. Except you do not get money. You get a voucher. And the voucher only works there.
Most shoppers think of it as a discount. It is considerably more interesting than that, and once you see the mechanics you will understand why the company has been doing it for decades.