HARRIS TEETER SHARES COOKIE AD WITH BRANDED CEREAL PRODUCTS

LOUISE KRAMER

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- A coupon for store-baked cookies targeted at kids turned up in an unusual place in an ad for Harris Teeter here late last month: in the midst of a page of coupons for grocery items from General Mills.

The coupon, which featured 50 cents off for a dozen cookies from the in-store bakery, is part of a one-store test at the retailer's unit in Atlanta. It was featured along with coupons for 11 General Mills products including cereals and kids-oriented treats like Dunkaroos and Betty Crocker Fruit by the Foot.

The aim of the test, said a Harris Teeter bakery executive, is to see if pairing the in-store cookies with General Mills products will draw moms into the store with their kids. The promotion, which was partly funded by General Mills, included two free cookies from the bakery for kids who entered a coloring contest. The bakery executive, Joe Colaianni, said last week he did not have sales results from the promotion, which ran from Feb. 22 through Feb. 28.

This is the first time the in-store bakery has been involved in such a promotion, he said. "We don't often interface with those national companies," he said, adding that he could not say whether the promotion has a future in the retailer's other stores.

The cookies in the promotion are bake-off, and normally retail for $1.99 per dozen, Colaianni said.