Louisiana Family Wins National Home Mortgage Sweepstakes

LAS VEGAS, Nov. 9, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- When Bill Tassin was transferred to Austin, Texas, from Lafayette, Louisiana, he and his family knew they would return to their hometown in three years. While they did not want to sell their Pelican State dream home, the family wondered how they would keep up mortgage payments while living out of state.

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That question was answered this week when Bill's wife Nancy won the grand prize in the National Home Furnishings Month (NHFM) Home Mortgage Sweepstakes—a year's worth of mortgage payments—sponsored by World Market Center Las Vegas.

Nancy saw the sweepstakes when browsing on a sweepstakes website and then entered online through the NHFM Is It Home Yet? ^TM campaign website, HomeYet.com. She was randomly selected from 106,192 entries in the sweepstakes, which ran from September 1-30.

"Times have been tough for us and winning the sweepstakes will definitely help alleviate some of our financial pressures," said the recently announced Home Mortgage Sweepstakes winner Nancy Tassin. "My family moved to Austin when my husband was transferred for work to help with the aftermath of Hurricane Ike and it has been a difficult transition. We have three daughters, one of whom is a senior in high school who had to leave childhood friends behind and I have not been able to find a job."

In addition to entering the sweepstakes online, participants had the opportunity to enter through more than 700 participating retailers nationwide which included 178 Ashley Home Stores. Austin-based retailer, Gage Furniture Co, Inc. was an active retailer in this year's campaign with the highest amount of consumers entering the sweepstakes through their store's on-line page.

"We would like to extend our congratulations to Nancy and her family as we are incredibly excited to be able to offer a year's worth of mortgage payments," said World Market Center President and Chief Executive Officer Robert Maricich. "We hope this prize will give her the financial freedom to pursue the dreams she has always had for her home."

And Nancy, who plans to use a portion of her winnings on new flooring and furniture, was not the only winner during NHFM, as 23,000 Is It Home Yet?^™  Facebook fans had the opportunity to win prizes by sharing their stories about their personal home design projects. Three winners were chosen based on their story and won a digital picture frame courtesy of World Market Center Las Vegas.

About Is it Home Yet? and National Home Furnishings Month

Created by WMCLV, the home furnishings industry's leading international marketplace, and launched in partnership with eight industry associations, the Is it Home Yet? advertising campaign and NHFM was the first-ever industry-wide initiative that encouraged consumers to celebrate the idea of "home" and refresh their living spaces through new home furnishings purchases. In addition to the Home Mortgage Sweepstakes, the campaign's website, www.homeyet.com, features advice from top designers with home makeover tips and trend information. Exclusive information about sales and promotions at participating retailers across the country is also available online.

This all-industry marketing initiative is endorsed by National Home Furnishings Association (NHFA), Western Home Furnishings Association (WHFA), Home Furnishings Independents Associations (HFIA), Sustainable Furnishings Council (SFC), American Society of Furniture Designers (ASFD), Specialty Sleep Association (SSA), Women in the Home Industries Today (WithIt) and International Sleep Products Association (ISPA).

About World Market Center Las Vegas

World Market Center Las Vegas is an integrated home and hospitality contract furnishings showroom and trade complex. The state-of-the-art campus showcases furniture, decorative accessories, gift, lighting, area rugs, home textiles and related segments, as well as the Las Vegas Design Center open daily to consumers and designers. World Market Center currently hosts the biannual Las Vegas MarketTM, the preeminent total home market along with Gift + HomeTM and Vegas KidsTM. For more information on World Market Center Las Vegas and its shows, visit www.wmclv.com. Find us on Facebook and Twitter.

SOURCE World Market Center Las Vegas