SOME IGA RETAILERS RUN A 'SHARP' PROMOTION

CINCINNATI -- About 70 IGA retailers in Kentucky and Ohio are promoting cutlery in an eight-week continuity.

cents to $3.99. They are, however, required to use an in-ad coupon and make a $5 minimum store purchase to buy a different kind of knife each week. Shoppers get a free steak knife with the purchase of the weekly featured knife. Additional steak knives are offered at 99 cents. A pot fork is available from open stock at $1.99.

Retailers are supporting the promotion with newspaper ads and in-store merchandise shippers through August 13, when the continuity and two week cleanup ends. Ads tout the knives as dishwasher-safe with a limited warranty. The knife assortment includes various styles for paring, utility and carving; French chef, fruit and vegetable types; fillet and boning models; ham and bread knives and a cleaver.

This was the first time the retailers promoted kitchen knives as a continuity, said a spokesman at the retailers' nonfood supplier, General Merchandise Services division of SuperFoods, Westchester, Ohio.