BROOKSHIRE'S BEST GETS CAKE 2004-10-04 (1)

DENISE CROSS

TYLER, Texas -- Brookshire Grocery Co. here thanked its top loyalty card customers last week by personally delivering a cheesecake to their homes.

The 48 customers were identified as being the top loyalty card shoppers in the Tyler market area in terms of spending over a specified period of time. Brookshire referred to its loyalty card as the "Thank You" card.

Brookshire runs 154 stores under the banners of Brookshire's, Super 1 Foods and Ole Foods in Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi.

Tim Brookshire, president of human resources and financial group, BGC, was in charge of the event. He got positive feedback from the customers, said Sam Anderson, spokesman for Brookshire. BGC did not speculate on the impact of the event.

"As a company, BGC had always tried to show our appreciation to customers who entrust us with their business," said Anderson. "Tim thought this would be a nice way to express our gratitude to the very best customers."

Brookshire has not previously conducted a specific event such as this, but has used its Thank You cards to send other gifts to its top shoppers. One year, the chain sent Easter lilies; the stores that happened to have costumes had the lilies delivered by the "Easter Bunny."