CLEANING HOUSE

LARRY LITTMAN / Additional reporting: Stephanie Loughran

Backed by frequent traffic, supermarkets are well positioned to capitalize on trends in the cleaning tool category, specifically with stick goods.

Whether retailers stick to low-end basics or stretch the category with higher-end trade-ups, devotion to the category is the ultimate factor, said Gary Mitchler, director of marketing, Affiliated Foods, Amarillo, Texas. "It's a hard category to stock, a hard category to manage and a hard category to keep straight," Mitchler said. "But there lies good opportunity for those who can manage it."

Information Resources Inc., Chicago, reports that sales of cleaning tools increased 4.5% to $851.5 million at food, drug and mass merchandiser outlets for the 52 weeks ending Dec. 31, 2000. Total units were up 4.7% to $195 million.

While mass merchandisers led the segment, supermarkets were second and enjoyed significantly higher growth. Sales by mass merchandisers increased only 0.7% to $457.5 million while supermarket dollars grew 9.7% to $333.2 million.

Tom Kappa, senior vice president, sales and marketing, O-Cedar Brands, anticipates stronger growth for the category this year with "supermarkets positioned to get that growth."

"Supermarkets are destination stores for cleaning and cleaning tool products," said Kappa. "The average consumer spends more time in food stores than in the other retail outlets. We put a lot of attention into category management -- going to supermarkets and doing segment, productivity and item analysis.

One of the biggest influences on the sales of cleaning tools has been the need of consumers to reduce the time it takes to clean a house, said suppliers. "Consumers are devoting half the time to cleaning than they did yesterday," said Kappa. "But they still want to clean house. So there is a demand for cleaning tools that make life easier for the consumer by saving time."

Pat Brandt, president of Rubbermaid Cleaning, Wooster, Ohio, said that the emergence of tile, laminates and hardwoods as preferred flooring in homes created the need for specialized cleaning implements.

Cleaning tools are "ancillary" products, noted Michael Silverman, director of marketing, Butler Home Products, Holliston, Mass. "They need the attention-getting display space that supermarkets can offer."

Although prices of cleaning tools haven't increased, consumers are purchasing higher-priced items within individual lines, said suppliers and retailers.

With the spring-cleaning period nearing, suppliers of mops, brooms and small cleaning tools will be stepping up promotions designed to offer consumers savings -- savings on time and money.

Competition has grown more intense this season with manufacturers focusing strongly on branding in a category with relatively low consumer brand awareness, said industry observers.

This is evidenced by new licensing agreements. One agreement brings together Butler Home Products and Procter & Gamble, Cincinnati, Ohio, whose well-known Mr. Clean brand will be appearing as a line of Butler cleaning tools.

"It offers something different, and the name recognition value is great," said Al Jones, vice president and category manager, Imperial Distributors, Auburn, Mass., about the Mr. Clean license.

According to a P&G official, the line has already rolled out in mass merchandisers, and will begin to roll out in supermarkets like Winn-Dixie Stores, Jacksonville, Fla., and Star Markets, Cambridge, Mass., next month.

The line will include stick goods, buckets and pans, and scrub brushes.

Another co-branding effort has been inked with Springfield, Ohio-based O-Cedar Brands and Royal Appliance Manufacturing, Greenwillow, Ohio, maker of Dirt Devil floor care products. The agreement made O-Cedar the exclusive licensee of the Dirt Devil brand for non-appliance cleaning tools.

Quickie Manufacturing Corp., Cinnaminson, N.J., has launched a major network TV and print campaign designed to strengthen its Quickie brand name in conjunction with the launch of a new product called Ring-A-Mop with its own wringing system and a built-in scrubber.

The Libman Co., Arcola, Ill., is promoting a Wonder mop with a special wringer sleeve, Gator butterfly sponge mop with an ergonomic grip, a Precision Angle broom with two color fibers for differentiation and corner sweeping, a Tornado mop featuring a wringing mechanism with ratchet design.