CUB FOODS GEORGIA IS SHOWCASING DELI COFFINS

ROSEANNE HARPER

LITHIA SPRINGS, Ga. -- Cub Foods's Georgia Division here is bucking the multideck trend and has given a prominent spot to coffin cases in the deli.

While many retailers are switching to multideck display cases to keep products near customers' eye-level, the division here has added 6-foot-by-6-foot, coffin-style spot cases that offer up a variety of meal solutions.

The 13-unit Georgia division has added the spot cases in four delis in the last three months and will add them in other units, said Donna Bohannon, director of deli operations for the division.

Bohannon maintains that the cases are valuable for getting the product closer to the customer. "The items are literally at the customers' fingertips as they look into the case." she said.

Customers are intercepted by the cases in the deli aisle, but they also see a busy hot-foods counter and an expanse of service deli counter with main-dish salads in front of them, Bohannon said.

Yet it's the coffin cases, with their wide selection of items, that particularly address customers' quests for convenience, Bohannon said.

One side of the refrigerated case is devoted to store-rotisseried products, such as pork roast and turkey breast, as well as chickens and chicken parts. One side has salads and ready-to-heat side dishes such as mashed potatoes and broccoli and rice casserole. Sandwiches take up another side, and "Cubby" lunch boxes -- which contain a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, two cookies and a piece of fresh fruit -- occupy the remaining side.

"The idea is that, in that one six-by-six case, a customer can get something for dinner, for lunch tomorrow and for the kids' lunch, too," Bohannon said.