FRED MEYER, ALBERTSON'S ALTER LAYOUT OF VITAMINS

CHAPIN CLARK

PORTLAND, Ore. -- In a major category-management initiative now under way at all Fred Meyer and Albertson's stores here, the retailers are re-merchandising their vitamin sets to group products by the part or function of the body they claim to treat.

Designed to make vitamin shopping easier, the new merchandising scheme, developed by supplier Leiner Health Products, Carson, Calif., will be on view at all 48 Fred Meyer stores and all 49 Albertson's stores in the Portland area by the end of the first week of July, according to Bob LaFerriere, Leiner's senior vice president of marketing.

Called Body Benefits, the new system is a test that will run through the end of the calendar year, he said, at which point the chains will assess sales and customer response and decide whether to embark on a wider rollout.

"We expect it to become national," he said. "All our preliminary research tells us it's going to be strong.

Leiner manufactures the Your Life brand of nutritional supplements, as well as private-label products for both Albertson's, Boise, Idaho, and Fred Meyer, based here.

"We feel that grouping similar supplements together offers the vitamin shopper . . . convenience and clarity," said Sheryl Simonsen, a Fred Meyer vice president and merchandiser, in a statement. "We anticipate that Body Benefits will turn our vitamin and herb aisles into a true health-information resource within our stores."

In supermarkets, vitamins and supplements are often merchandised by brand. In the Body Benefits program, products are grouped under such categories as memory, energy, immune system, circulatory/heart, bones/joints, multivitamins, sports nutrition and specialty supplements. In the immune-system section, for example, shoppers will find vitamin C, zinc and echinacea.

Body Benefits will incorporate "an entire point-of-purchase package" created by Leiner, LaFerriere said.

Display materials, from product labels to header cards above the gondola, will feature unified graphics.

There also will be shelf-level educational materials, like "take one" cards with information on clinical trials conducted on specific supplements.

The Body Benefits re-merchandising effort will be backed by a television ad campaign that will run until the end of the year, LaFerriere said. "The primary message is Your Life is the brand that eliminates confusion."

LaFerriere declined to say what Leiner's budget was for the TV campaign, but he said it was "at the rate of $30 million nationally."

Although Leiner is responsible for the re-merchandising, the company's products will not be more heavily represented under Body Benefits than they were before, and competing brands won't lose any shelf space, LaFerriere said.

"It's how the balance of the store has been merchandised forever," he said. "Consumers shop by indication."

LaFerriere said he expects Body Benefits to make consumers more comfortable trying new supplements -- and spending more on them. "When there's confusion at the shelf, what the consumer will always do is choose on the basis of price. By eliminating confusion, it'll lift the entire category."

Leiner vitamins and supplements range in suggested retail price from $3.99 to $15.99. Portland-area Fred Meyer and Albertson's stores carry anywhere from 25 to 80 Leiner stock-keeping units in vitamin sets that average 12 to 15 feet, LaFerriere said.

He said Leiner has partnered with other retailers to implement Body Benefits in "pockets" around the country, most notably in selected stores operated by Eckerd Corp., Largo, Fla., and Arbor Drugs, Troy, Mich. Another retailer, the discount chain Bi Mart, Eugene, Ore., also is involved in the Portland test, he said.

As reported in SN, 85-store, natural-foods chain Whole Foods Market, Austin, Texas, working with its private-label supplement manufacturer, is now re-merchandising its vitamin sections along similar lines.