LIVE LLAMAS WILL PROMOTE NEW RELEASE AT REASOR'S

RANDY WEDDINGTON

TAHLEQUAH, Okla. -- Reasor's here is bringing live llamas to each of its 11 stores this month to promote the upcoming release of the Disney video, "The Emperor's New Groove."

"We'll have miniatures, babies and full-sized animals," Reasor's director of video/photo, Paul Richardville, told SN. "We're excited about it -- it's something different."

The video, in which the main character is turned into a llama, arrives May 2 at a suggested retail price of $26.99 on VHS and $29.99 on DVD ($39.99 for the "Ultimate Groove" two-disc collectors' edition) from Walt Disney Home Video, distributed by Buena Vista Home Entertainment, Burbank, Calif.

The chain is advertising that the llamas will be in front of its stores, which are concentrated in and around Tulsa, Okla., on the weekend of April 28 and 29 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Richardville said the opportunity arose when he learned that a Reasor's employee raises the animals.

"We're working with a llama breeders' association in Oklahoma," he said. "We'll have handlers with each one who'll be talking about them and handing out information about the association. They will also have wads of llama wool that the kids can feel."

In addition, Reasor's employees will pass out information about the video operations, and the stores will have giveaway prizes associated with the new video. Disney, which Richardson said found the promotion amusing, is supplying the prizes.

"They sent us tons of T-shirts, hats, caps, pens, buttons, and all of the posters and lean-backs that we needed," he said.

The promotion also is emblematic of the chain's drive to distinguish itself. "I'll bet no one else in the country is doing this," said Richardville.