BIG Y ENGINEERS ANNIVERSARY ELECTRIC TRAIN EVENT

JOEL ELSON

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. -- In the first three weeks of a Big Y Foods' anniversary promotion that broke Oct. 27, the chain sold half of its 5,000 collector's limited-edition electric toy train sets at $29.98.

Launched chainwide at all 41 stores to commemorate Big Y's 60th anniversary in business, sales of the Minuteman Express train sets "are going pretty well and we hope for a sellout," said Claire D'Amour, vice president of corporate affairs.

"Our 60th anniversary was a good opportunity to try this first-time promotion. And interest in model railroading is very much alive and popular. Doing this for the holiday shopping period also was a good time to run it," D'Amour said.

D'Amour declined to give profit margins on sales of the sets. However, there were 10 suppliers who helped defray the cost of the train sets by sponsoring their individual brand on a train car, she said.

The sponsoring suppliers and products are: Advil, Mentadent, Tambrands, Kraft, Top Care, Gatorade, Oreo cookies, Ocean Spray, Polar Beverages and Angus Beef.

"The products are doing well, with half the sets selling out in only three weeks," confirmed Patrick O'Malley, director of marketing and sales at O'Malley & Associates, the Huntington Valley, Pa., marketing company that developed the promotion.

Big Y here merchandises the boxed sets, containing a 12-wheel diesel locomotive, five freight cars, a 4-foot by 7-foot oval track and powerpack, on an in-line gondola in the nonfood section.

Manufactured in Slovenia by International Hobby Corp., Philadelphia, the plastic train set features the chain's 60th anniversary logo.

The original paint scheme of the old Boston & Maine Minuteman line, which used to roll through the New England region, was reproduced. Box packaging depicts the train rounding a curve on a typical fall day in the Berkshire Mountains of Massachusetts.

The chain is reserving its decision to repeat the promotion at a later time. "We want to see how well these do first," the retailer said.

Big Y also displayed 144 platform accessory kits priced from $3.98 to $7.98 at each store, ranging from a farm and law office to city hall, railroad station restaurant, shopping center, grocery store, hotel, saw mill and other miniatures.