ANSWERING THE CRY

CHRISTINE BLANK

One-stop shopping destinations and an expanded selection of discounted private-label items are two ways supermarkets are fiercely competing with mass merchandisers in the baby category.

SN recently visited five retailers in central Florida: Albertson's, headquartered in Boise, Idaho; Publix Super Markets, Lakeland, Fla.; Winn-Dixie Stores, Jacksonville, Fla.; Food Lion, Salisbury, N.C.; and Gooding's Supermarkets, an upscale regional chain headquartered in Apopka, Fla., to see how they are attracting customers with an augmented assortment of baby care items. SN followed up its visits with phone calls to the retailers, but none could be reached for comment.

Albertson's, 2400 E. Semoran Blvd., Apopka, Fla.

Albertson's and Publix are the only two chains in this market to clearly differentiate their baby care departments from the rest of the store. As reported in SN, Albertson's has teamed with Parents magazine to create a destination stop for parents of young children. The unit here, as in other parts of the country, has a large yellow, white and blue sign on each end of the baby aisle that reads "Albertson's and Parents Complete Baby-Care Center."

Albertson's is the clear leader in the area in nonfood selection and even sells items like humidifiers and vaporizers in the baby aisle. The store also puts a lot of emphasis on its private-label program.

At the front of the baby aisle, a wing on one endcap features parenting books and magazines on a metal rack. Playtex Spill-Proof plastic cups hang on j-hooks underneath the publications. The other endcap also has a wing, which merchandises a number of Gerber plastic bottles, priced at $1.19 for an 8-ounce model.

In-aisle, 20 feet of bottles, rubber nipples, plastic dinnerware, teething rings and other products are featured primarily on j-hooks. Among these were Albertson's baby thermometer for $2.99; the First Years medicine spoon with travel cap; about 14 pacifier selections; an electric toothbrush; and bibs, car shades and toys.

Albertson's has a large toy selection, which included a soft terry duck for $4.79, a plastic Squeakie Playbook for $4.19 and the First Years Stuffed Pooh with music for $15.49.

The store also features the largest space devoted to baby clothes of any area store, but offers only underwear and socks, not clothing sets. Larger appliances, such as a vaporizer with a night light, are placed on the top shelf, along with plastic dinnerware and spill-proof cups. The bottom shelf includes kids' clothes hangers, toys and plastic dinnerware, separated by metal racks.

Four feet of bottles within this same 20-foot section are merchandised on j-hooks and three additional shelves. A sign in this section declared that Albertson's 80-count disposable bottles were $2.79, compared with Playtex' 80-count bottles for $3.99.

Additional related products are displayed on the bottom shelf of this section; for example, a Gerber bottle warmer and an Evenflo breast pump kit.

Night lights and teething rings are cross merchandised on j-hooks throughout the entire 20 feet of items.

An additional 8 feet at Albertson's are dedicated to lotions, shampoos and cotton swabs. Like most of the stores SN visited, the emphasis is on private label. All Albertson's products have either white or yellow packaging and feature purple and white labels illustrated with an elegant mother and baby graphic.

More health-care items, such as diaper rash ointment, are merchandised in this section on the top shelf. Signage compared a 4-ounce tube of Albertson's diaper rash ointment at $3.39 to the same size Desitin tube at $5.49. Albertson's cough elixir and petroleum jelly are also featured near the top of this section, with baby powder at eye level. Albertson's private-label baby powder is adorned with a teddy bear graphic on a purple label.

Several items are cross merchandised on j-hooks throughout the 8-foot health and beauty care section, including night lights and light bulbs, Flintstone's vitamins, baby teething gel and Evenflo Teach Me toys.

Publix Super Markets, 540 Hunt Club Blvd., Apopka, Fla.

Publix carries a wide variety of baby needs in a half-aisle (one gondola, about 88 feet long). The baby section is signed "Baby" with a purple, pink and yellow plywood fixture attached to the top shelf.

The chain's baby club is promoted on large signs suspended from the ceiling and hanging over the aisle. Plastic holders for pamphlets about the baby club are also placed throughout the baby department.

Baby thermometers and other HBC items are cross merchandised on j-hooks. Publix brand products are featured throughout the department, including 4 feet of lotions, medicines, cotton swabs and other needs. Publix baby powder, for example, sold for $1.99 for 15 ounces, compared with Johnson & Johnson's 15-ounce container for $2.99. Publix has a large variety of children's medicinal products, including Publix non-aspirin pain reliever. Cotton swabs are placed at eye level in this store. Publix cotton swabs sold for $1.79 for 300 during SN's visit, compared with cotton Q-Tips at $1.99.

Twelve more feet are devoted to bottles, teething rings, bibs and similar items, along with a limited selection of clothing, such as socks and underwear. Toys and items not normally found in a supermarket, like the Nap n' Go cushion for a baby car seat and a roller shade for the car window, are also merchandised in this section.

Winn-Dixie Stores, 926 W. Hwy. 436, Altamonte Springs, Fla.

Although Winn-Dixie has an extensive private-label program in many categories, baby care is not among them. Nonetheless, the baby-needs section at this unit is comprehensive, and Winn-Dixie carries clothing.

A Looney Tunes bath clothing set for $6.38 and a small Sleep 'n Play outfit for $7.63 were packed in clear plastic boxes and merchandised on the bottom shelf of an 8-foot section of bottles, bibs, toys and other baby care items. Other unique items on the bottom shelf included a Sassy carousel for baby food at $5.58 and a travel kit with lotion, oil and other products at $4.97.

Standard items, also on the bottom shelf, were Johnson's Healthflow nursing pads, priced at $2.84 for 36 pads during SN's visit, a Playtex nurser starter kit for $11.98, and Gerbers electric bottle warmer for $9.98.

This 8-foot section primarily uses j-hooks to merchandise the rest of the items, including rattles, bottles, pacifiers and small toys.

A 12-foot HBC section follows, with a sizable mix of medicinal products, shampoo, cotton swabs and baby wipes. Baby wipes take up four of the seven shelves. On the top two shelves, teething gel ointments include Hyland's homeopathic formula, Baby Orajel, Baby Ambesol and Balmex.

At eye level, baby powder, oil and shampoo are featured, including a new baby powder from Johnson & Johnson and its Endangered Species bubble bath with a 3D collector's card attached to the front of the package. This last item was priced at $3.37 for a 10-ounce bottle during SN's visit.

Johnson & Johnson's Ultra Sensitive line is also highlighted, with a special display on the shelf that stocks cream, lotion, shampoo and baby wash. Cotton swabs and cotton balls are relegated to the top shelf, in about 2 feet of space.

A number of items were merchandised throughout the HBC section, including travel-size Kuddles baby wipes on a small metal rack; Fun Straws, two for 46 cents; a mini Coleman lantern night light for $4.97; and a rattle for $3.68.

The store's regular HBC section did not prominently display baby items, except for Children's Tylenol, Flintstone vitamins and children's shampoo. The shampoo, including Johnson & Johnson, L'Oreal Kids and White Rain, is in a 4-foot display in the middle of the aisle.

Food Lion, 501 North Orlando Ave., Maitland, Fla.

This unit gives ample space to baby care, which is not usual for the Food Lion chain that typically carries very few non-food items. Like most units in the chain, however, this store was about 35,000 square feet.

No special signage or displays are used in the baby aisle, but point-of-sale material stresses discounted prices for MVP frequent-shopper card holders.

Food Lion is the only chain to use a pegboard, about 18 inches high, to display teething rings, bottles, bibs and several other items on j-hooks. The pegboard extends across the top of the baby-food section as well as across another section where baby care products are merchandised on shelving. The pegboard spans about 32 feet of space altogether; the entire baby section is about 64 feet long.

During SN visits, some of the items featured on the pegboard included a Disney pacifier holder on closeout for $1.69, a Johnson & Johnson's Health Flow 8-ounce decorated bottle for $2.59, and a Looney Tunes Starter Bib for $2.59.

Bottles are merchandised next to baby food, in 4 feet of space, along with thermometers, pacifiers and similar products, most on j-hooks. The product mix is fairly evenly distributed among national brands, including Gerber, Evenflo and Playtex.

An 80-count box of Disney disposable bottles sold for $2.99, during SN's visit, alongside a 40-count box of private-label disposable bottles for $1.99.

Food Lion products are more prominent among 4 feet of HBC items and include lotion, baby oil and cotton swabs. Also prominently displayed and advertised in this section was a new product from Johnson & Johnson -- Endangered Species baby shampoo, priced at $2.99 for 15 ounces. Placed nearby was Food Lion's 15-ounce shampoo for $1.99.

The store restricts most baby items to the baby care aisle, except for Flintstones vitamins, which are featured on an endcap off the HBC aisle, as well as in the HBC aisle.

Gooding's Supermarkets, E. Hwy 436, Apopka, Fla. Gooding's baby aisle is configured differently from the other stores, since one gondola is shorter than the other. The short gondola is 24 feet long, while the long fixture is 40 feet.

HBC items, along with bottles and other baby care products, are merchandised in 8 feet of space at the front of the aisle. Most bottles, teething rings and similar items are on j-hooks, and three lower shelves include diaper ointment, baby lotions and nursing products.

This store is much smaller than the other units SN visited and did not carry private label. However, several discounts tied to Gooding's frequent-shopper card were featured during SN's visit. For example, Jungle Land Top Care baby shampoo, regularly $2.19 for 2 ounces, was $2.09 with the card. Signage next to Gerber's Bird Electronic Plaything touted the toy as "Another New Item at Gooding's."

The baby care section at Gooding's has an extensive selection of disposable bottles, nursing pads and bibs made by different manufacturers.

Items like toothbrushes and small toys are cross merchandised on j-hooks throughout the department. At the end of the aisle, a metal clip-strip holds Looney Tunes plastic bottles.