BUENA VISTA SWEETENING 'POOH' OFFER TO RETAILERS

DAN ALAIMO

BURBANK, Calif. -- Buena Vista Home Video here has sweetened the honey pot for retailers for its March 27 release of "The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh."

In a letter to distributors, Dennis Maguire, senior vice president of sales for the Disney home video subsidiary, offered three free units of the movie with the purchase of 45. The price per unit would work out to $15.18. Several retailers contacted by SN said they would buy more as a result of the offer of three free units. "It would make a difference," said Tom Hembree, vice president of operations at K-VA-T Food Stores, Grundy, Va. "We usually purchase a lot of Disney product and do really well with it."

Buena Vista made a similar offer on its Masterpiece Collection titles that will be promoted at the same time. The price per unit on these titles is $14.05 with the three-free unit offer. Orders must be placed by Feb. 27. The offer is "an effort to drive sales and profits for the period," Maguire wrote in the letter to distributors. "We will probably buy a few more," said Gary Schloss, vice president of grocery and general merchandise at Carr Gottstein Foods, Anchorage, Alaska. "I'm not going to double my order, but we'll buy more and I'm sure it is going to help somewhat to stimulate interest," he said. But an executive with a Midwestern chain, who asked not to be identified, said, "It is not going to increase our buy a bit. We are going to buy what we think the customer is going to purchase." However, the executive added, "it will increase our profits and make us happier with Disney."