STOP & SHOP PROMOTION GIVES KIDS A LESSON IN BTS SAVINGS

RICHARD TURCSIK

QUINCY, Mass. -- Stop & Shop Cos. here helped youngsters stock up on back-to-school supplies by offering free items to consumers who purchased certain Center Store products.

Using the headline "Get coupons for free school supplies," Stop & Shop gave consumers free Checkout Coupons for school supplies -- including notebooks, pencils, index cards and binders -- when they purchased multiple grocery and frozen-food items.

For example, customers who bought two bags of Orville Redenbacher popcorn cakes received a Checkout Coupon for a free Pen-Tab 80-sheet wireless notebook, while those who purchased two Tombstone pizzas received a Checkout Coupon for a free 24-count box of Crayola crayons.

Officials at Stop & Shop could not be reached for comment, but David Diamond, executive vice president of marketing and new applications for St. Petersburg, Fla.-based Catalina Marketing Corp., which runs the Checkout Coupon program, said it was the first time Stop & Shop ran such a promotion.

In addition to popcorn cakes and frozen pizza, the three-week promotion encompassed a wide selection of grocery items.

For instance, shoppers buying two bottles of Hershey's syrup received a coupon for two Pen-Tab 70-sheet composition books, while those buying three boxes of General Mills cereals received a coupon for a package of Pen-Tab 200-count filler paper.

The promotion also involved the candy and frozen-food aisles.

In the frozen-food aisle, the purchase of two packages of Ore-Ida products rewarded the shopper with a coupon for 75 cents off a Pen-Tab canvas binder.