RETAILERS OFFERING HISPANIC DVDS

Wendy Toth

PARAMUS, N.J. -- Entertainment manufacturers and distributors report that retailers are privy to new Latino DVD offerings because of demand from the growing U.S. Hispanic market.

Digiview Entertainment here is releasing a new line of value-priced Spanish-language DVDs licensed from Televisa International, Miami featuring Spanish-language biographies of Latino celebrities, and getting a good response from retailers.

"We've been making inroads into supermarkets in recent months because our new DVDs are impulse, high-quality products that look good at retail," said Mike Omansky, chief executive officer of Digiview.

Although people aren't going to a supermarket to look for value-priced Spanish-language DVDs, the product fits in with the supermarket product base, Omansky said. "From the consumer standpoint, these DVDs don't bump up the grocery bill, but they do provide a good profit margin for the retailer, so everybody wins," he said.

The Hispanic population is the largest minority in the United States and a new source of economic clout, playing a significant part in supermarket product strategy. Notably, supermarkets in the Midwestern area of the United States are promoting Hispanic foods and related products, Arnie Thierbach, managing partner at Crossroads Marketing, Salt Lake City, told SN. Thierbach declined to name the retailers.

Crossroads is just beginning to place Digiview Spanish-language DVDs in supermarkets and "stores are realizing that this is an important category and are devoting space to Hispanic products to develop both a loyal Hispanic customer base and a consistency for those customers," Thierbach said.