SMITTY'S CAKE PROMO GETS BOOST FROM PRIZE DRAWING

ROSEANNE HARPER

PHOENIX -- Smitty's Super Valu got an unprecedented rise in cake sales with a recent Cake-O-Rama sale.

"We sold 20,000 more cakes this time than we did last year when we ran our winter Cake-O-Rama sale. This year, we went through 70,000 cakes," said Terry Flynn, director of bakery operations for the 25-unit chain.

That was during the annual one-week Cake-O-Rama that the retailer runs in conjunction with a storewide sale to mark the chain's anniversary. Flynn attributed the jump in sales from last year's cake week to the featured price and to a new merchandising idea, a prize drawing for a trip to Hawaii.

The 8-inch, single-layer cakes were priced at $1.99 each. That's compared to two for $5 last year. "There's some difference because last year some of the cakes we were selling had two layers, but this year the price really attracted people," Flynn said.

"It's also the first time we've done a drawing, and it went really well," Flynn said. "Manufacturers and suppliers helped out. It would be hard to do it without that support."

Smitty's ran the Cake-O-Rama promotion to "take advantage of the traffic we have in the stores in the wintertime."

Unlike some chains in colder regions of the United States, where the challenge is to get customers out of the house and into the store, Smitty's has good traffic in the winter because its units are in areas that attract winter tourists.

"We did this to get them into the bakery," Flynn said.

A nearly full-page newspaper ad with $1.99 in huge numerals smack in the middle of it announced the cake promotion the first week of this month. Photographs of a variety of cakes flanked the numerals, and an inset said, "Win a Trip to Hawaii. Come in and see how easy it is to enter."

Ten varieties of cake were offered, "including our specialty varieties such as red velvet, carrot cake, and German chocolate.

The everyday retail price for the cakes averages out at $4.29.