In the Race
itor: An article on the food industry's involvement in NASCAR racing [SN, Sept. 14, 1998] didn't mention my company, K-VA-T Food Stores, Inc., whose main banner is Food City.
As sports marketing director for K-VA-T, I want to point out that my company's NASCAR involvement dates back twelve years to our associate sponsorships on several NASCAR Winston Cup and Busch Series cars competing at the Bristol Motor Speedway. In 1992, Food City became the title sponsor of the Food City 500 Winston Cup and Food City 250 Busch Series races at Bristol Motor Speedway. The 1999 Food City 500 is already sold out.
Our sponsorship goes much further than the title sponsorship of two races at Bristol. Food City is an associate sponsor on the GM Goodwrench Service Plus Chevrolet driven by seven-time Winston Cup champion and 1998 Daytona 500 winner Dale Earnhardt. In addition to being an associate sponsor on the Earnhardt car, Food City is also an associate sponsor on the AC-Delco Chevrolet driven by NASCAR Busch Series standout Dale Earnhardt, Jr. Through NASCAR-related events, Food City has been able to donate over $60,000 to various charities over the years.
Food City is also a retailer of NASCAR merchandise in all of our stores. We are the official supermarket of the Bristol Motor Speedway and we cooperate with many vendors in racing related programs throughout each year.
Ben Trout Sports Marketing Director K-VA-T Food Stores Abingdon, Va.
Reset Redux
To the Editor: Referring to the flap between the Association of Sales and Marketing Cos. and retailers over resets ["ASMC Lambasts Retailers Over Reset Issues, SN, Oct. 19,1998, Page 1], during the past 25 years I have managed brokers on behalf of a number of major manufacturers.
In that time, I have lamented that the retail trade didn't know or understand how a broker gets paid. Usually the impetus for such an observation was the effects of diverting, the effect of arbitrary deductions on commissions, reclamation profit centers, etc. However, I have often been corrected by brokers: It isn't that the trade doesn't know how we're paid, it's that they don't care. These opinions are mine, not those of my employer.
