MEGA MART KEYS IN ON SELL-THROUGH

DAN ALAIMO

OAK CREEK, Wis. -- Mega Mart here has opened a new video rental department with a heavy emphasis on new releases, sell-through and the chain's first selection of Hispanic titles, said Bob Glisch, vice president of operations.

Located in an urban area of Milwaukee, the live-inventory, 1,200-square-foot department is in a new 112,000-square-foot Pick 'n Save Mega Food Center that opened recently. It carries 3,800 video titles, of which about 20% are new releases. Four television monitors are positioned in each corner of the department, Glisch said.

The department also stocks 350 video game titles, including the new formats for Sony PlayStation, Sega Saturn and Nintendo 64, and a broad selection of sell-through videos, said Glisch.

"We went heavy on sell-through. That has done quite well," he said. The sell-through is displayed on a 7-foot-high by 10-foot-long wall using grid racks on a slot wall. The selection at this time is made up entirely of new tapes, at price points ranging from $6.99 to $12.99. The selection includes theatrical titles as well as children's videos, he said.

Rental rates average about $1.56 for new releases, 99 cents for catalog titles and $2.49 for games, per day.