NEW CHAIN TO GIVE RENTAL HIGH PROFILE

DAN ALAIMO

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Video is a high priority for vanCamps Supermarkets, a new company in the supermarket business. VanCamps entered the industry in February with the purchase of four northern Indiana stores formerly owned by Family Fare Supermarkets. It has closed one store and will "extensively" expand and remodel the remaining three, said Roger Camp, president. An integral part of the expansion will be rental departments, according to Camp. The first will be installed in about two months, while the rest may take as long as six months, he said.

"As we think about expanding our services, video rental is important to us. If video is done well, it is an attractive product to the customers," said Camp. The stores do not have video rental sections at this time, he said. The company has not yet completed plans for the operating arrangements of the departments, he said. The vanCamps' departments, which will probably have more than 1,000 tapes, will feature a merchandising system with empty boxes on the racks and the actual tapes secured behind the service desk, said Camp.

"We will primarily focus on new releases and family movies with some classics, and whatever other types of videos our customers ask for," he said. Video games and sell-throughs also will be part of the mix.