STORE-BRAND KIDS' BOOK LINE OPENS AT SHAW'S

Carol Angrisani

EAST BRIDGEWATER, Mass. - Show's Supermarkets here has launched a store-brand, 32-title children's book line that will be expanded early next year.

The collection - targeted to children ages six months to seven years - offers a variety of board, picture, puzzle and sticker books. Priced from $1.39 to $2.99, it will be expanded by 18 titles in February 1996. Additional selections will be added every several months thereafter.

"Shaw's has been helping customers feed their bodies for 135 years. We agreed it was time to start feeding some minds," Phil Francis, Shaw's president and chief executive officer, said in a press statement.

The line was scheduled to be rolled out by last week. It is the latest addition to the retailer's growing store-brand general merchandise mix, which includes a recently launched four-color glossy magazine, "Fresh Ideas." Shaw's said it is the first food retailer in the United States to publish its won magazine and children's book line.

Titles are merchandised in a 6-foot-high endcap at the front of Shaw's book departments, which are about 400 square feet and are located in the front of the store. They are arranged on color-coded shelves according to category and age. The endcap features a banner that reads, "Shaw's Feeds the Mind" and "Raise a Reader Today!"

According to the company, the collection was developed with children's needs, interests and reading levels in mind. Published by Candlewick Press, Cambridge, Mass., it features British and American award-winning authors and illustrators, according to the company.

Shaw's is promoting the line in a full-color brochure being distributed in grocery bags and mailings to area schools. It's also publicizing it in newspaper ads, store circulars

and coupons, and special giveaways. Each book contains Shaw's logo on the front cover and "Shaw's Feeds the Mind" on the back. Selections include "Mini and the Dream House," "Bear Skates" and "Jungle Jumble." Also featured are Christmas titles, such as "A Bad Start for Santa Claus," "The Biggest Snowball," and "The First Christmas."

"We saw it as a real need in the mix of product in stores," said Bernard Rogan, a spokesman at Shaw's. "It's a high-quality product for a low price."

Shaw's book departments also feature international newspapers, hardcovers and magazines. "Fresh Ideas," which retails for $1.75, includes articles on travel, health and beauty, food and retailing. Designed to rival high-end consumer publications, it also features recipes and shopping and cooking tips.