Hannaford Supermarkets Feature Tension Fabric Décor
Custom designed tension fabric décor elements were created to enhance the visual design of new and remodeled Hannaford Supermarkets in Massachusetts, Vermont, Maine, New York and New Hampshire.
The design includes a series of calla lily-inspired column wraps and bright colored leaves that float above the pharmacy area. The décor pieces were created for Hannaford Supermarkets by Transformit, a tension-fabric structure design, company located in Gorham, Maine.
Kroger & Produce For Kids To Promote Healthy Eating
Kroger Supermarkets is partnering with Produce for Kids, a program that promotes the importance of adding more fruits and vegetables to children’s daily diets plus raises funds for Children’s Miracle Network hospitals.
PFK’s Healthy Kids Club encourages children and parents to “get healthy and give hope.” Recommended activities encourage club members to purchase sponsors’ products, create fun recipes and interact with PFK's education section of the web site. Each time a club member completes an activity, their name will be entered into the Grand Prize Drawing to win a family vacation for four to Orlando, FL, or Williamsburg, VA.
Kroger’s Southwest division supermarkets will promote the following sponsors in their stores: Vidalia Onions, Marzetti Refrigerated Salad Dressings, Dole fresh packaged Salads, Country Fresh Cut Fruit, Driscoll’s Raspberries and Chelan Fresh Apples.
Produce For Kids offers colorful POS materials that highlight the co-sponsored products and educate consumers about the campaign’s purpose to raise money for Children’s Miracle Network hospitals. POS materials include shelf talkers, shelf cards, posters and recipe brochures.
Wild Oats Launches National ‘Choose Local’ Program
Natural product analysts at the Hartman Group report more than 75% of consumers would like to know more about where their food comes from and how it is produced. Wild Oats is responding to this call with a “Choose Local” program that will showcase fresh, organic products from local growers in all 113 of its natural food markets.
To make it easy for shoppers to identify locally supplied products, Wild Oats will mark these items throughout its stores with “Choose Local” shelf tags. The farmer and vendor profiles will allow customers to learn more about the local businesses they are supporting and feel good about their purchases.
JCPenney Launches X Games Apparel
J.C. Penney Co. has introduced X Games boys’ apparel, developed as a collection with ESPN. In most stores, consumers will find an integrated X Games lifestyle shop incorporating multiple product lines and headlined by a Moto X bike display. The launch product features special X Games “Gold Medal Guide” hang tags that provide customers with action sports tips.
“This is the biggest boys’ apparel brand launch ever at JCPenney,” said Steve Lawrence, General Merchandise Manager, Children’s Apparel at JCPenney. “The X Games brand gives us the perfect edge with boys looking for apparel that helps them express their individuality.”
“The X Games is the most recognizable action sport lifestyle brand with a devoted following among teen and tween boys,” said Steve Cipolla, V.P., ESPN Consumer Products. “Creating an apparel line that embodies this lifestyle is a natural extension of the brand.”
Cingular Converts Eight Stores In Las Vegas To Serve Growing Hispanic Market
Cingular Wireless is creating a new shopping experience in Las Vegas by converting signage and collateral in eight local stores to both English and Spanish. Bilingual sales people will be prepared to serve customers in both languages and will be trained to handle the needs of Latino consumers using a culturally-appropriate approach.
“Understanding and continuing to deliver on the needs of Spanish speaking customers will allow us to strengthen our leadership position within this important market,” said Tammi Terrell, Vice President & GM, Cingular.
The new bilingual store concept is part of Cingular's comprehensive strategy to meet the needs of Hispanic consumers and includes products and services, marketing and infrastructure, such as ringtones from top Latin artists, as well as wallpapers, graphics, games, news, sports scores, weather and horoscopes, all in Spanish. There are four bilingual call centers for customers who prefer to do business in Spanish; a Spanish-language Web site; ad campaigns in Spanish; sponsorships of top Hispanic celebrities; and special calling rates to Mexico and other Latin American countries.
Coca-Cola Introduces “Far Coast” Brand, With Concept Store In Toronto, Canada
The Coca-Cola Company has unveiled its Far Coast brand of premium brewed beverages to the Toronto, Canada marketplace. Through Far Coast, the Company has created a revolutionary new system to empower its retail customers-premium restaurants, entertainment venues and other high-end outlets-to offer a variety of freshly brewed espressos, chai teas, cappuccinos and lattes with a high degree of operational ease.
According to the Company, Toronto is an ideal location for the launch because it is a multicultural city that fits the cultural exploration brand positioning of Far Coast and is in a country that has a highly developed brewed beverage market. To help build awareness and trial of the Far Coast brand in Toronto, the Company has created a Far Coast Concept Store, which will provide a venue for customers to taste and explore the wide range of premium Far Coast blends. Following the Toronto opening, Concept Stores will be opened in Oslo and Singapore as well.
Coca-Cola has also developed a proprietary pod-based brewing technology that provides customers with an operationally easy system to offer barista quality brewed beverages while ensuring each beverage is of consistently superior quality and freshly made for each individual consumer. This innovation is designed to help the retailers overcome operational complexities such as complex, unreliable machines and high labor turnover. Through this technology, retailers can quickly and conveniently tap into the fast growing specialty coffee and tea market while receiving marketing and technical support from Coca-Cola.
CVS Photo Center Facilitates Internet-To-Retail Picture Processing
Consumers who use online photo services to order their pictures no longer have to wait for prints to arrive in the mail thanks to the new CVS Photo Center. CVS/pharmacy's online photo center offers image sharing, storage, gifts and internet-to-retail picture processing. Unlike most other online photo sites, www.cvsphotocenter.com makes it possible for customers to upload photos, order prints and drive to a local CVS/pharmacy store to pick them up-in many instances in as little as one hour.
In Internet to-retail processing, consumers upload pictures to the CVS online photo center then go to local stores to pick up their pictures, days faster than a Web-only service can deliver.
Family Medic Opens In-Store Minor Medical Clinic Inside Kroger Market
Family Medic recently opened its first in-store minor medical clinic inside a Memphis, TN-based Kroger supermarket. The in-store clinic enables shoppers to buy groceries, fill a prescription, and get help for an earache or fever, all under one roof. The micro-size medical office offers various services to people on the go, including diagnostic tests, throat cultures, and blood pressure checks with or without an appointment.
The Family Medic clinic includes work stations, an examination table, a sink and refrigerator, drug storage, work surface and a waiting room, all in a small efficient space that is handicap accessible. Nimlok Memphis, utilized custom modular trade show materials to construct the clinic because they’re light weight and can be easily and quickly installed.
Tweeter Opens ‘Playground’ Concept Store
Tweeter Home Entertainment has opened a “Consumer Electronics Playground” concept store in Burlington, MA. The store’s unique selling spaces create a “custom journey” that makes shopping for home and mobile entertainment more enjoyable.
The new CE Playground store showcases whole-home control and automation through sophisticated spaces designed to replicate the rooms throughout a customer’s home. A fully-integrated family room, bedroom, bathroom, kitchen sports bar and patio space are all decked out with the most cutting-edge video/audio gear. The store’s gigantic wall of flat-panel TVs allows customers to compare TVs with little effort. The Big Screen Adventure, is a home theater experience that offers people the opportunity to sit in D-BOX Quest motion simulator seating, while viewing their favorite movies on a Sony projector with a 120" Stewart screen.
Judy Quye, Tweeter’s Sr. V.P., Sales, said “Our concept stores are consumer electronics playgrounds that excite and educate consumers about what is now possible in their homes.”
Garmin Showcase To Open In Chicago
Garmin International plans to open a retail product showcase on Chicago’s Michigan Avenue in time for the 2006 holiday shopping season. Garmin is the only GPS manufacturer to unveil a location devoted to giving customers the world’s most comprehensive GPS experience through hands-on product demonstrations and interactive kiosks, and special seminars.
“This new Garmin presence on Michigan Avenue will allow us to promote our brand and our products in a new way,” said Dr. Min Kao, Garmin’s CEO. “We want to use this location as a destination to excite our customers, and further propel sales among all our retailers.”
'Disney Magic Selections’ Healthy Product Line Debuts At Kroger Stores
Kroger Co. and Disney Consumer Products are partnering for an exclusive line of Disney Magic Selections-branded products featuring Disney characters on food, health and beauty items.
Approximately 100 food items will launch throughout 2006, with the majority of products giving families fun and healthier alternatives. The line will include items that are inherently healthy such as fresh fruits in kid-size packages, while other product categories such as snacks, meals and popular staple foods will feature items with significantly improved formulations offering controlled levels of calories, fat and sugar.
Signage and aisle displays in Kroger stores will feature Mickey Mouse as “Chef Mickey” and “Farmer Mickey.”
Giant Eagle Introduces Market District Destination Store Concept
Giant Eagle has launched two Market District Destination concept stores in the southwestern Pennsylvania region, offering a culinary destination for food aficionados paired with the convenience of a full service market. In a single location, customers can purchase unique, fresh and specialty items alongside mainstream national brands while enjoying convenience-oriented services such as pharmacy, photo development and dry cleaning.
The two Market District stores offer: a Brazilian-style churrasco; the finest in charcuterie showcasing domestic and imported cured meats from countries such as Italy and Spain; a cheese department with more than 400 choices from around the globe; a traditional pizza oven; a sushi bar and 4,000 organic and gluten-free items.
In-store events will include cooking demonstrations from resident chefs, and free Wi-Fi access is available in the Market District Café.
Department Stores Losing Their Edge With Luxury Shoppers
Luxury shoppers, long the most loyal customers of department stores, are turning to other shopping destinations, according to the Luxury Report 2006 from Unity Marketing.
This trend is particularly prominent when luxury consumers are shopping for home luxuries. Pam Danziger, President of Unity Marketing, says, “The fact is, many of the department stores we think of for luxury shopping, don’t place a lot of emphasis on home.”
In terms of total luxury shoppers usage, Macys is the number one department store shopping destination, used by the largest percentage of luxury shoppers in 2004 (23%), followed by Nordstrom, 18%, and Dillards, 12%. However, when these shopping figures are adjusted by the total number of stores nationwide, a totally different perspective emerges.
When it comes to marketing luxury brands, everybody is getting squeezed by department store consolidation and shoppers disaffection, Danziger says. One of the results will be the continued trend of luxury goods marketers, notably Estee Lauder, Ralph Lauren Polo and Liz Claiborne, to open up their own specialty retail shops. Others are entering into the discount channels with specialty brands that can be value positioned without threatening the premium lines, like Estee Lauder’s venture with Kohls.
Study Shows Which Items Send Shoppers Dashing To The Store
Milk (number one by a more than 100% margin) tops the list of products that have consumers running immediately to the store, followed by bread (2) and toilet paper (3), according to a new survey conducted by Prescient, a provider of supply chain and advanced commerce solutions for retailers and suppliers. The remaining top 10 are: medicine (4), toothpaste (5), eggs (6), coffee (7), meat (8), fruit (9), and cigarettes (10).
“Today’s busy consumers simply don’t have extra time to make a second stop,” said Jane Hoffer, CEO of Prescient. “So stores that aggressively provide for this emerging product category of intense demand-the Beeline Products-have a better shot at keeping their customers coming back.”
Cereality Cereal Bar Partners With Dodge To Drive Cereal Sales
Cereality Cereal Bar & Café has teamed up with Dodge to create a unique mobile format for bringing its “All cereal. All day. All ways.” promise to customers.
With the introduction of the “Cereality Sprinter,” a fully outfitted Cereality Cereal Bar and Café on wheels, cereal lovers everywhere can get their favorite hot or cold cereal combinations, distinctive cereal-based bakery and snack items, hot and cold beverages and other standard café menu offerings in an even more convenient fashion.
"We wanted to create a cereal-based version of the much-loved neighborhood ice cream truck, where we could take our ‘Always Saturday Morning’ experience to our customers where they live, work and play at any time of day or night-showing up at special events, schools, office parks and sporting venues,” said David Roth, Cereality’s CEO.
POPCO Inc. offers its NX Snaprail™ which hangs wide format signage up to .080" thick. There is a quick-change locking feature which allows signs to be changed easily without tools. If a second Snaprail is used along the bottom of the sign, it keeps signage from curling and creates a framed look. The Snaprail is stocked in standard lengths up to 72" in clear or silver, or cut to custom lengths. Black or clear accessories are available. The silver NX Snaprail is a sturdy low-cost alternative to aluminum sign-hanging systems. For more information, contact POPCO Inc., 5405 Opportunity Court, Minnetonka, MN 55343-0025.
FFr Inc. offers its versatile and economical Modular C-Channel Sign and Banner system which may be easily customized to display pricing, category and promotional messages. The system's double-sided interlocking channels slide together to create a secure hanging display with virtually unlimited flexibility. Two channels or six or more may be joined together as needed. Optional hanging clips allow display from ceilings or windows. They are also available as base displays as a single channel on gondola tops or other flat surfaces. Stocked 3"H white styrene channels hold signs up to .040" thick on each side and come in l8",24",36" and 48" lengths; additional sizes and colors can be made to order. For more information or to request a free 2006 FFr YELLOW PAGES® catalog, call 800-422-2547 or visit www.ffr.com.
New Dimensions Research Inc. created Blockbuster Poster Frames to promote various films and video games. The sign creates an in-store controlled opportunity to focus and cycle promotions of new movie and game titles available. It provides a clean and consistent look at Blockbuster stores nationwide. It generates awareness of new releases and pre-sells while providing an In-store system that is easily managed by store personnel. The design of the piece makes the frame blend into the background showcasing the product. Side rails with a top slot allows easy placement of additional graphics with changeouts taking seconds. For more information. contact New Dimensions Research Corp., 260 Spagnoli Road, Melville, NY 11747.
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