Kings Touts Changes in New Ad Campaign 2007-05-07

MARK HAMSTRA

PARSIPPANY, N.J. — Kings Super Market here recently kicked off an ad campaign touting changes it has made throughout the 26-store chain.

After testing new merchandising strategies that incorporate more high-end products and services and an expanded selection of everyday items in about half a dozen stores for the past several months, the company said it has implemented the strategy in all its stores.

“We've got a lot of new twists rolling out in all the stores,” Bruce Weitz, president and chief executive officer, told SN. “It's a continuation of our pricing strategy, more services, a better store atmosphere for customers, and a more unique marketing program that differentiates us from other competitors to consumers.”

As reported in SN last October, Kings last year began testing a new merchandising scheme in which it added a wide variety of upscale specialty items, such as cakes imported from Milan, Italy, ostrich eggs and yak meat, and at the same time lowered prices on staples such as paper towels and bottled water.

The company has also beefed up service levels and revamped stores to create an Old World market ambiance in the perimeter departments.

The changes will be touted in the new campaign, which includes print ads, direct mail, inserts and online ads. The chain has also expanded its advertising circular to 16 pages or more and made improvements to the graphics.

It is using in-store promotional materials touting “Hot Prices — More Choices” and the tag line “From Everyday to Fabulous Gourmet, Expect the Unexpected.”

“The concept is to have a food store like no other,” Weitz said.

Investment firms Angelo, Gordon & Co. and MTN Capital Partners last April acquired Kings from London-based Marks & Spencer for $61.5 million, ending years of on-again, off-again sale talks about the banner.

“Probably the most important thing for a company that has gone through a lot — and one of the most heartening things we've done — is that people have not only bought into the strategy, but taken it to new heights,” Weitz told SN. “People have stepped up to the plate, not just because they have to, but because they wanted to.”