LACROSSE, Wis. — Quillin's each summer has pitched a produce tent in some of its parking lots, selling seasonal fruits and vegetables at hot prices, and this time the company's deli departments got in on the act.
To lure the tent customer into the store, the delis at the 9-unit independent's two largest stores ran a two-day-only sale on July 22-23 that boosted deli sales by 17% for the week at the company's flagship location.
"If customers purchased $5 worth of bulk deli meat, cheese or salad, they got one of our rotisserie chickens for $1," Tony Doering, deli manager at the chain's flagship store, told SN.
Customers could mix and match, and most of them bought much more than $5 worth of deli meats, cheeses and salads, sending total deli sales soaring, Doering said. A few rings neared $40.
"The chicken for a dollar was a very good deal for customers, because our rotisserie chickens normally retail for $5.99 each. They're big. Three to three and three-quarters pounds," Doering said. "That first day we sold 190 of them — on a day we'd typically sell 40."
More news about the promotion is in this week's issue of SN.