THREE SECTIONS MEET AT BAKER'S BABY CENTER

DON YAEGER

OMAHA, Neb. (FNS) -- A one-stop baby department that includes three supermarket categories -- grocery, general merchandise and health and beauty care -- is part of Baker's Supermarkets' newest store here.

Called Baby Town Center, the 1,200-square-foot department carries infant and toddler lines ranging from food to apparel.

Positioned near its pharmacy, due to the substantial traffic into the pharmacy by young mothers with questions for the pharmacist, the section includes 75 lineal feet of display along a side wall of the 70,000-square-foot store, and six gondolas of merchandise perpendicular to the wall display.

Spread over the gondolas and wall shelves are food, diapers, toys, formula, apparel, nursing and feeding supplies and grooming items.

Endcaps contain such popular items as Gerber baby food, with 40-ounce jars selling at three for 99 cents, and Johnson's Baby Shampoo, with 15-ounce bottles selling for $1.99.

Also featured in the section are such clothing lines as Sesame Street, Winnie-the-Pooh, Disney Babies and Harley Davidson, and a 16-foot section of Fisher Price toys.

Such large ticket items as an Evenflo Champion car seat, priced at $58.99, and a First Years 2-in-1 Play Center, priced at $86.99, also call Baby Town Center home.

A recent newspaper ad promoting the department listed Luvs Baby Wipes, 84-count, for $1.98 with the firm's loyalty card. The ad further stated that "we offer more than diapers and baby food."

Store grocery, GM and HBC clerks all participate in stocking and maintaining the section, and purchasing is handled by company buyers for these items.

While vendors, including Proctor & Gamble, gave merchandising tips for the new center, the concept is a creature of Baker's, a 21-store chain owned by Fleming Cos., Oklahoma City.

The company's next two stores -- set to open next year in Omaha and Oklahoma City -- will also contain the baby centers, said Jeff Manning, vice president of general merchandise for Baker's, in charge of the effort.

If adequate space is available, they may also be added to old stores undergoing remodeling, he said.