'TITANIC' STEAMS TOWARD THE VIDEO RECORD BOOKS

RANDY WEDDINGTON

SEATTLE -- Retailers worried about a mediocre year for video rental and sell-through can relax. Their ship has come in.

"Titanic," the $600 million domestic box-office phenomenon, was released to the video market Sept. 1 by Paramount Home Video, Hollywood, Calif. The two-tape set has a minimum advertised price of $19.95, no suggested retail and a 90-day pay-per-view window.

The film opened last December in theaters and still ranks among the Top 20 earners. Ticket sales were $385,000 the weekend before its video release, according to media reports. The title is the biggest movie of all time, domestically and internationally, where it has earned $1.7 billion. Some experts speculated that for the first time a movie's video release might stimulate more people to see it on the big screen.

Given this performance, many industry analysts have predicted the title will soon become the top-selling video as well. With industry sources estimating shipments of between 24 million and 26 million units, "Titanic" already is steaming toward that record, currently held by Buena Vista Home Video's "The Lion King," with an estimated 26 million copies sold through. Many are predicting "Titanic" sales of more than 30 million units.

Across the country, supermarkets and retailers in other classes of trade have gone all out to promote and merchandise "Titanic." In many cases, retailers have reported sales exceeding expectations. During the movie's first week of sell-through release, SN visited stores in the Seattle area, where it was apparent that "Titanic" had docked in grand style.

Supermarkets, video specialty stores, drug stores, mass merchants and electronics stores here all were well stocked on the Sept. 1 street date. Floor shippers of 48 pieces and up, bearing a promotional offer from Sprint, were prominently displayed in most stores, inside video departments and near entrances. Most sales were at or slightly above the minimum advertised price of $19.95.

Initial sales in the Seattle market point to a record in the making. "We're already into reorders in several locations," said a video coordinator for a major supermarket chain in the area. "And our distributors are running out of product."

Like "The Lion King," "Titanic" has motivated local stores to build elaborate point-of-sale displays. Of the stores visited by SN on the street date and the day after, an Albertson's store in Seattle had the most impressive display. The video department manager, who also presold the title with a sign-up deposit, created a cardboard Titanic, roughly 10 feet long, which held more than 100 copies of the sale title on a wire fixture at its stern.

Another attention-getting display was featured in a Fred Meyer store in Shoreline, Wash. Stationed just inside the electronics department entrance were two 60-piece and two 48-piece shippers decked out with streamers and balloons.

This Fred Meyer location had more product tie-ins than any other store SN visited. Near its "Titanic" display on checkout counters were related videos like the IMAX "Titanica" at $14.99, a two-tape Titanic set from Simitar at $7.99 and National Geographic's "Secrets of the Titanic" at $11.99, as well as CDs of the "Titanic" soundtrack and "Back to the Titanic," each at $13.88. A shipper of "Titanic" posters at $3.99 was nearby as well.

Tie-ins featured in the local Walgreen Co. circular included Max Factor makeup and a Titanic documentary. Max Factor, a national tie-in partner with the movie, offered a free soft-cover copy of the "Titanic" book, a New York Times bestseller, with the purchase of the tape and $10 worth of its products. Walgreens also offered a free copy of the documentary "The Titanic Collection" with the purchase of the "Titanic" tape, which it priced at $22.99. By Sept. 2 a Lynnwood, Wash., Walgreens SN visited already had sold out.

In a circular, Albertson's cross promoted its deli in a full-page "Titanic" ad. Under a "Host a Titanic Party" banner, the ad included a $1 coupon for any deli pizza and a coupon for a free movie rental with the purchase of the "Titanic" video.

Safeway, which introduced its Safeway Club Card, a customer savings program, in the Seattle area in August, advertised "Titanic" at the club price of $19.95 in its weekly circular, a savings of $1. An Edmonds Safeway SN visited, however, had no notice that the price was for club members only. Like most of the Safeway stores visited, this location had two 48-piece shippers up front in the video department, where "Titanic" apparently was enjoying brisk sales. Safeway also featured the title on the cover of the September issue of "Videopreview," its video handout.

Quality Food Centers featured "Titanic" at $19.95 in its weekly circular, with no tie-ins mentioned, and on the cover of its monthly handout. But tape stocks varied greatly by location. A Seattle store had one 48-count shipper in its video department up front. A more upscale location in Edmonds, Wash., though, had more than 100 copies, including many of the wide-screen edition, on the back shelf of its video department.

Video specialists generally sold "Titanic" at the minimum advertised price; Hollywood Video in Lynnwood, Wash., had it at $19.95, and both Videoland, also in Lynnwood, and Suncoast Motion Picture Co. in Bellevue, Wash., had it at $19.99.

But Blockbuster Video, which opened at 12:01 a.m. on the street date for early sales, charged more. A Blockbuster in Edmonds sold the tape at $21.99. Tower Records, which also opened immediately after midnight on the street date, kept the MAP in its Bellevue store, but made a value-added offer of a free classical music CD.

Among the mass merchandisers, Wal-Mart in Renton, Wash., and Target in Issaquah, Wash., held to the MAP as well. Kmart, however, sold the tape for $18.99 at stores in Seattle and Lynnwood. Lower still was wholesale club Costco Cos.; a Seattle unit was offering the title for $16.95.

A nearby Future Shop matched Costco's price through Sept. 15, although the company circular advertised at the MAP. This chain, which carries electronics, computers and appliances in Washington and Oregon stores, had one of the area's biggest tie-ins. The company ran a full-page ad in the Aug. 31 edition of the Seattle Times under a "Get It First" headline. "We're celebrating the launch of 'Titanic' with Hot Deals on Monday & Tuesday," the ad read, and all stores were open at 8 a.m.

In addition to "Titanic," the ad promoted the two soundtrack CDs at $13.88 each, plus the "Titanica" video at $12.95 and a two-pack of "A Night to Remember," the classic British film on the ship's sinking, and "Titanic" the made-for-TV movie, for $12.95. The Future Shop SN visited, which had signs offering up to $20 worth of music and video coupons with the tape purchase, had one 48-piece shipper at its entrance and another at checkout. Both were nearly empty the day after street date.