IMPERIAL SUPPLYING FOODTOWN UNITS

JOEL ELSON

AUBURN, Mass. -- Imperial Distributors here has extended its operations beyond the New England area and is now supplying nonfood to the 50 Foodtown supermarkets in New Jersey and metropolitan New York.

Foodtown, a retailer-owned cooperative based in Woodbridge, N.J., had been purchasing most nonfood through Alpine Distributors, West Nyack, N.Y., a division of Twin County Grocers, Edison, N.J. Last December, Twin County declared bankruptcy.

Peter Lavoy, Foodtown president, said many Foodtown supermarkets are multiple-store operations, including high-volume outlets of Food Circus, Middletown,.N.J.; Norkus Enterprises, Point Pleasant, N.J.; Francis Markets, Neptune, N.J.; and PSK Foodtown, Mount Vernon, N.Y.

Imperial began supplying Foodtown on an interim basis in December, said Michael Sleeper, Imperial's president. It now supplies a full selection of nonfood items including health and beauty care, pet supplies, toys, housewares, stationery, stick goods and other categories.

Plans call for Imperial to revamp Foodtown's nonfood shelf sets at store level with its own planograms.

"We expect to aggressively beef up the advertising program and work closely with Foodtown members to improve their incremental sales on off-shelf HBC ad features, and on seasonal nonfood."