EXECUTIVE: STORES IN CHARGE OF FRONT END

RICHARD TURCSIK

CHICAGO -- Retailers are now in the driver's seat when it comes to controlling the front end of the store, according to an official with a leading confection manufacturer.

"Retailers across the country have discovered that when it comes to putting items on the front end of the display, they can be specific on what they want to put up there," said Ken Friedlander, area marketing manager for the American Chicle division of Warner-Lambert Co., Morris Plains, N.J. Friedlander spoke here at the Account Specific Marketing Conference, which was sponsored by the Institute for International Research, New York. Among the products that American Chicle markets are several different types of gum -- Chiclets, Trident, Bubblicious and Dentyne -- and Halls cough drops and Rolaids antacids.

Addressing an audience of manufacturers, he said in many instances retailers are calling the shots in determining which products are sold at the front end of the store.

"The buyer can tell you anything he wants to. The price of the program is whatever he wants it to be, and when the next person walks in the door it is a whole new game, depending on what you have to offer," Friedlander said.

He said during the last five years profits from front-end check-out displays have increased. As a result, retailers are developing new tactics to increase their profits further.

"Retailers have also found that when dealing with the front end of the store they can sometimes put on their Century 21 jackets and go into the real estate business, selling the most valuable real estate in the store, the front-end floor space," Friedlander said.

While magazines and confections currently make up 60% of all front-end items, Friedlander said retailers are tinkering with that mix and seeking to add more high-margin items including CDs, tapes, books, soft drinks and salty snacks.

"The front end is the last chance for the retailer to make a sale, so he is looking for items that are highly impulsive and have a very high profit. They have to be items that a large percentage of households want to pick up," he said.

"The key to making the front end more profitable is to make the display as easy to shop as possible," Friedlander explained. "Adult items should be at eye level, while children's items should be at about 3 feet for children to see. And there should always be enough room for merchandising."