A NOVEL IDEA 1994

WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Raley's here is considering a permanent display for videos based on top-selling books, thanks to past successes in merchandising such videos during Mother's Day and Father's Day. The videos are currently displayed in Raley's video rental centers, while the actual books are sold at reading centers.

nment, Troy, Mich.

"We've had prepack shippers of videos that were books that sold for $9.99 as an in-and-out Mother's Day or Father's Day promotion. That worked well," said Dan Black, buyer-merchandiser for general merchandise.

"We merchandise these books on video in the video department in shippers with a header and a reference to the books. The mix has included full-length TV miniseries, as well as major theatrical productions," Black said.

Raley's has run these videos "mainly as an in-and-out because they aren't strong enough as a year-round segment. Some also do better than others, especially books that were hot in the past year; the books people want to see on video after reading them," Black added.

Other top-selling types of tapes include titles that have been on television recently and vintage titles that have remained popular over a long period of time, he said.

Black said he sees increased potential for videos based on popular selling books. But sales often depend upon "how hot the book is and if you can hit it when it's still fresh in people's minds," he said. "Other people like to grab a video based on a book they read a couple of years ago to see how close it is to the book."

Raley's promotions usually contain some 36 different full-length versions of the books.