JULY 4TH PROMOS CAUSE VOLUME BOOM

JOEL ELSON

Supermarkets reported brisk July Fourth holiday sales during specials run on summer general merchandise that was promoted strongly in newspaper ads. Holiday promotions at various chains involved a wide variety of summer items: outdoor charcoal grills, vinyl chaise lounges, electric fans, ice cream freezers, film and photo processing. During a "Fourth of July Values" sale at Tom Thumb Food & Drugs, Dallas, general merchandise item retails ranged as low as 99 cents for super ice picnic packs to $34.99 for kettle-style barbecue grills. A company source, who asked not to be named, stated, "It was a great promotion." He mentioned the chain has featured similar items during past July Fourth holidays, which he described as "a great time of the year" to feature a cross-section of summer-related outdoor general merchandise. Styrofoam ice chests, sun tan mats, snapset pools, small electric fans and pool chemicals also were highlighted in full-page ads. Good weather during the holiday contributed to a sell-out of 55-gallon barrel charcoal grills, priced at $89.95, at some Red Food Stores, Chattanooga, Tenn., said a company source, who requested anonymity. "Once July Fourth hit, some stores sold out their full 24-item supply that week," he noted. "People seemed quite willing to pay that retail. It was the first year we had that type of large grill at our smaller stores. We had them ready to display as the holiday started," the source said. Although all featured items did well, some, like garden hoses, chaise lounges and small barbecue grills "didn't do as well as last summer because of all the rain we had in this area in July," said the source. Red Food Stores devoted endcaps to items like garden hoses, while loungers were merchandised at various locations around the store. Jewel Food, Melrose Park, Ill., kicked off the July Fourth holiday with a glassware continuity promotion that runs through Aug. 17. Shoppers using their Jewel check-cashing Preferred Card can purchase four different glassware selections at 69 cents each. The 16-ounce cooler glass, five-inch bowl, 13-ounce double rocks glass and 12-ounce footed goblet will retail at $1.29 for customers without the card. Jewel touted the line during the July Fourth holiday with ads stating: "Star spangled savings on blue or crystal bowls from Libbey." Fry's Food & Drug, Phoenix, timed a pool chemical special to the July Fourth period by running ads for 3-inch chlorine tablets in large value-packed quantities. "People responded well to the promotion, which saved them a considerable amount off the regular retail price of $1.19 for a 3-inch tablet," said a source Fry's ran ads for the tablets at 69 cents each when purchased in the 94-count, 35-pound pail. Bashas' Markets, Chandler, Ariz., offered half-price film developing on all 3-inch or 4-inch single and double prints and for Panoramic single-use cameras in a July Fourth promotion. The chain also advertised Panoramic cameras at $9.99. The chain's newspaper ads stressed Bashas' customers didn't have to wait until July fourth, but could "enjoy the fireworks all year long with Panoramic picture film." It noted prints from a Panoramic camera are "three times the length of a standard picture." The photoprocessing promotion did "fair," noted Jeff Manning, vice president of general merchandise for the chain. "Photoprocessing is highly competitive in the Phoenix area, and many retailers are virtually giving their processing away. Some are retailing film developing as low as $2.99 for a roll." Bashas' also took an institutional approach to its Panoramic film developing ad message because of the higher cost of that film's processing, Manning said. "The developing price is so high you wouldn't want to scare people away. Running it as a half-price sale just keeps us in the game and brought the cost down to around $7 to $8."