KASH N' KARRY INTRODUCES LOYALTY PROGRAM

DEENA AMATO-McCOY

TAMPA, Fla. -- Kash n' Karry Food Stores here, a chain recently acquired by Food Lion, Salisbury, N.C., is joining the race to capture and retain its loyal customers through the chainwide launch of a card-based frequent-shopper program.

"The program will allow us to reward loyal customers, while simultaneously encouraging other customers to join the loyalty club and make Kash n' Karry a destination for grocery shopping," said Tawn Earnest, corporate communications coordinator for Food Lion.

Kash n' Karry is the first retailer in its market to offer a loyalty card program -- except for corporate parent Food Lion.

"Since there aren't many Food Lion stores in this area, Kash n' Karry really is the first major player in the market with a card program," said Earnest.

Following in the paw prints of Food Lion's MVP card program, Kash n' Karry kicked off its own frequent-shopper program on Jan. 28 in all 91 stores, she said.

Upon enrollment, Kash n' Karry shoppers receive a frequent-shopper card and two additional key-tag cards. When customers present their card during the checkout process, the bar code is read by the point-of-sale scanner so that product discounts can be applied electronically to the customer's total.

Kash n' Karry declined to comment on the number of customers enrolled in the program or the number of card-based transactions taking place.