ATLANTA -- Back-to-school basics will be the focus of buying for 1998, said nonfood grocery buyers planning to hit the School & Home Office Products Association's annual trade show here this week, Nov. 19 to 22.
Although executives said they are open to new items and emerging categories, most buying will be based on the performance of the past season, which many said was generally good.
Some buyers said they will proceed cautiously with licensed-themed goods, however. These often prove to be hit-or-miss opportunities, especially with in-and-out merchandise.
In-and-out licensed properties were the exception to solid back-to-school sales for Associated Grocers, Baton Rouge, La., according to Claude Millet, general merchandise buyer, who will closely monitor licensed programs for next year.
"Coca-Cola-licensed loose-leaf binders and clipboards didn't do too well," Millet said. Licensed binders were priced at $5.49, compared with $2.39 to $2.49 for regular binders. Higher retails may have contributed to the slow movement, he said.
Meanwhile, sales of filler paper in 200-count packs and pencils set out on large displays were strong, he added.
Rosauers Supermarkets, Spokane, Wash., plans to bolster its back- to-school program with a wider variety of items and more aggressive pricing and promotions, commented Denny Voight, nonfood buyer/merchandiser. In-line sets run 28 to 36 feet.
The chain will work toward "making a bigger impact in pricing merchandiser pricing," said Voight.
Rosauers will promote filler paper and basic accessories, with six or seven items like pencils, rulers and erasers priced at five or six items for $1.
It plans to to kick off back-to-school in July with a brand name 200-count filler paper promotion priced at about 89 cents. It will then drop the price to 49 cents in ads that hit the week before school, said Voight.
"Since back-to-school hasn't been a real hard-hitting area for us in the past, the filler paper would be a definite loss leader and new approach," Voight said. Rosaueers will display pallets of the filler paper in front lobbies.
In Springdale, Ark., Harps Food Stores turned in only fair back-to-school sales this year for its 12- to 36-foot departments, according to Art Bundy, nonfood director. He said the sluggish sales were due partly to Wal-Mart's back-to-school layaway plans.
"In a lot of poor communities that we serve in our area Wal-Mart has layaways where customers can pay for their purchases over time and by school season they've got it paid off," said Bundy.
Harps back-to-school volume overall was disappointing, he said. However, unlike Associated Grocers, Harps was able to move licensed products like Coca-Cola binders priced about $5, said Bundy. "Kids buy them and this is what they demand."
The retailer keeps its pricing for licensed school supplies low by picking up closeouts from the past year. Coca-Cola-, Disney- and Warner-themed items will again be merchandised next season. "If it's on TV, promoted and the logo is on a binder, it sells," Bundy said. The January-to-February school semester for Harps brings in good back-to-school business. During that period, Harps will run a chainwide dollar day sales campaign, featuring assorted school, home and office supplies.
The mix will range from stationery and 150-count filler paper to theme books, priced at two for $1, as well as pens, pencils and other basic commodities. "Those are items that need to be replenished, and many are good for home offices," said Bundy.
Hannaford Bros., Scarborough, Maine, also intends to stress basic supplies that account for the bulk of its back-to-school sales, said Mike St. Clair, general merchandise category manager.
"We tried the fashion stuff and the fancy notebooks and the expensive zipper binders with NFL logos, but the basics in pens, pencils and notebooks are still the core of our business," he commented.
St. Clair pointed to higher retails on fashion goods as part of the reason for slow sales. "I thought NFL binders would have been a no-brainer, but they weren't."
The chain buys licensed products partly based upon past history. "Predicting how well new licensed items will do is hard. We stay with proven winners like Winnie the Pooh, Mickey and Minnie that do well day in and out," St. Clair said.
