DOMINICK'S RUNS WITH BULLS TO SCORE IN 72-WIN PROMOTION

BOB BAUER

NORTHLAKE, Ill. -- Hoping to be like Mike and score big, Dominick's Finer Foods here ran a 72-hour, 72-cent sale to commemorate the record-breaking 72-win season achieved by the National Basketball Association's Michael Jordan-led Chicago Bulls.

Center Store items were the all-stars of the promotion. Among the featured items were: 2-liter bottles of RC Cola, half-gallons of Nancy Martin ice cream, 6-ounce bags of Lay's potato chips, 8-ounce bottles of selected Kraft salad dressings, selected Michelina's frozen entrees and 12-ounce cans of Sunkist frozen lemonade concentrate. Quantities were limited on the ice cream (two) and the salad dressing (four).

Two products each from the dairy and deli departments were also featured.

Officials at Dominick's declined to comment on the promotion, but a local observer told SN the promotion was given a lot of play.

"They devoted the back page of their circular to it," he said. "The ad was superimposed on a picture of a basketball, with the sale details, pictures of the products and the Bulls logo included in the ad," the observer said. "They did some radio and television spots, too."

The sale, which ran on a Thursday, Friday and Saturday during the Bulls' continuing playoff run, was also promoted in-store. "They had some signs in the store and I believe they had some in-store announcements," the observer noted.

"This was a no-lose promotion," he added. "This town is just going nuts over Jordan and the Bulls. It was smart of Dominick's to cash in on some of that hysteria."