GIANT INSTALLS SHELF LABELS WITH UPC BAR CODE

RICHARD TURCSIK

LANDOVER, Md. -- Giant Food here has introduced new shelf labels with a Universal Product Code bar code to facilitate the reordering and price checking of items.

The new labels were rolled out chainwide as a result of a New Jersey state law, which requires the retail price be placed on the right side of the label and the unit price on the left. Giant currently operates six supermarkets in southern New Jersey under the Super G banner.

Giant's old shelf labels had the retail price on the left and the unit price on the right, said Barry Scher, vice president of public affairs.

"The New Jersey labeling law differed from the laws in the other states in which we operate. We redesigned the label to conform to New Jersey, and that label is now in effect in all the states we operate in -- Maryland, Virginia, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware and the District of Columbia," he said.

Scher said Giant opted to change the labels throughout the entire company because it did not want to have two sets of shelf tags.

"We did write to government regulators in the other states we operate in to make sure that they approved of this label. We didn't want to design it and then go back and have to redesign it because that costs lots of money," he said.

And since Giant was redesigning the labels it offered the perfect opportunity to place the UPC codes right on the shelf tag.

"It enables us to price check more quickly and efficiently," Scher said.

Giant advertised the new shelf labels through full-page newspaper ads and in-store information. The newspaper ads detailed the design of the new labels and explained to shoppers the differences in the various unit-pricing measures.