RALPHS CUSTOMERS GET FRY'S MAILER

Elliot Zwiebach

CINCINNATI -- Kroger Co. here said last week a computer coding error resulted in a promotional mailing for dairy products at Fry's, its Arizona banner, being sent to Ralphs customers in Southern California.

Although the mailer mentioned "the Kroger family of stores" on the cover and contained two coupons for cents-off Kroger-brand items, there was little else to tell consumers Fry's, whose name was prominently displayed, was related either to Ralphs or Kroger.

A Kroger spokesman told SN that Ralphs would accept all coupons in the mailer, although he acknowledged that most customers were unlikely to understand that Fry's and Ralphs have a common ownership. He said the company was planning to send new mailers imprinted with the Ralphs logo to customers in Southern California, although that effort may be delayed until November because of backlogs in the printing industry due to holiday mailings. He declined to pinpoint the extent of the mailing error or the cost.

The full-color mailer, entitled "Fresh ... for Life," promoted the fact that Kroger's family of stores owns and operates its own dairies around the country -- "Fresh for you. Fresh for your family. Fresh .... for Life." It included 14 pages of articles and recipes for dairy-related products manufactured by Pillsbury, Yoplait, Tropicana, Nestle, Dannon, Kraft, Lender's and Land O'Lakes, among others, and an eight-page insert featuring 19 coupons for products from Jell-O, Yoplait, Dannon, Precious, Sargento, Lender's and others.