SHOPRITE MAKES TASTY OFFER FOR HALLOWEEN

RICHARD TURCSIK

ELIZABETH, N.J. -- ShopRite Supermarkets here offered shoppers a sweet deal to try Reese's Cookie Cup Miniatures and get a jump on their Halloween shopping.

Shoppers could purchase one 13-ounce bag of Reese's Cookie Cup Miniatures, along with three other 13-ounce Hershey's bagged products on sale for $10. But if they used their Price Plus frequent shopper card, the sale price was chopped in half, which worked out to $1.25 a bag. The suggested retail price is $2.99.

Other Hershey products included in the offer were assorted varieties of Hershey's Nuggets, Peter-Paul Almond Joy, Hugs, Kisses, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups and Assorted Miniatures.

Details of the offer were carefully spelled out on the front page of ShopRite's weekly circular.

When SN visited the ShopRite supermarket here in late August during the sale, the featured items were prominently merchandised in several areas of the store. They were sold in-line in the Halloween section, along with seasonal products from Hershey, Nestle and the other manufacturers.

They were also merchandised from a pallet display in the back of the store near the service meat counter, and in-line in the candy aisle. Special shelf tags announcing the reduced price were found only in the Halloween section.

Officials at Wakefern Food Corp. here, the cooperative wholesaler that is the merchandising and service arm of ShopRite stores, did not return telephone calls seeking comment.

Introduced by Hershey in late July, Reese's Cookie Cup Miniatures are little peanut butter cups with a chocolate cookie crumb base. They are also available in an 8-ounce lay-down bag that retails for $1.99.

In early August Hershey's also introduced the Nuggets products. Like the Reese's Crunchy Cookie Cups, they are available in 8- and 13-ounce bags that retail at $1.99 and $2.99, respectively.