THE SWEET SEASON

BARBARA McDONALD

Halloween displays are going up earlier in supermarkets across the land, as retailers come to understand that the sooner these displays appear, the more candy they will sell.

Seasonal candy had a stellar year in 1997 and is doing very well again this year, according to the National Confectioners and Chocolate Manufacturers Associations, McLean, Va.

Halloween had the best increases from 1996 to 1997, rising 12.6%, and 1998 Valentine's Day and Easter were up by 9.5%, according to NCA data provided by Information Resources, Inc., Chicago.

"When the holiday falls is important," said Jim Corcoran, director of trade relations for the NCA. "Saturday is good for Halloween, but not good for Valentine's Day," he said, "Because on Saturday night, couples celebrating Valentine's Day are more likely to go out to dinner."

This year October 31 falls on a Saturday. While most people buy their trick-or-treat goodies a few weeks before the holiday, displays encourage them to pick up some items ahead of time on their regular shopping trip.

"We promote seasonal displays anywhere from 7 to 9 weeks out," said Tom Yarrows, category manager for candy for Big Y Foods, Inc., Springfield, Mass.

Others, like Spartan Stores, Grand Rapids, Mich., go even further. Most of the 480 stores that the company services put up seasonal displays anywhere from 8 to 12 weeks ahead, said Mary Dechow, spokeswoman.

Another "season" to consider is football season. Some Spartan Stores do color-scheme promotions, using school or professional team colors. Sometimes this is done in conjunction with Back-to-School, and generally on a store-by-store basis. "Sports are big, especially in some of the university towns," Dechow said.

Big Y will build 20- to 30-foot seasonal displays in high traffic areas, Yarrows said, promoting spring, summer, midsummer; back to school; Halloween and Christmas; as well as Valentine's Day and Easter, he said. "Our plans for this quarter are to push up the coming holidays with large displays and competitive prices."

The pushier the better. Consumers who buy early risk running out, as temptation gets to be too much for them or their kids. They eat the treats ahead of time and have to go out and buy more, several retailers said.

"Generally, seasonal candy is an impulse item, up to a couple weeks before. Then it becomes a destination category," said Dechow of Spartan. "One reason we encourage our stores to get candy displays up early is this. Since it is an impulsive thing, they buy it, then they eat it, and come back for more. It can double your sales."

Retailers promoting candy as a destination item might run some cents-off coupons or markdown on the item, Dechow said, while impulse items may be promoted with a two-for-one sale, especially on candy bars and larger items that would not necessarily be a destination for a holiday. Dechow said her company does not promote unwrapped candy for Halloween distribution. These items are more popular for candy dishes at home or work. "There is still a huge concern over contaminants in Halloween candy, even at home parties," she said. Phil Cohen, grocery buyer for Rice Epicurean Markets, Houston, agreed. "Definitely individually wrapped candy versus loose for Halloween," he said. "Brach's candy corn is a big item; Hershey Kit Kats, M&M Snickers fun size and M&M Starburst Skittles fun size are some of the most popular items." Rice Epicurean Markets put up its Halloween displays the first week of September. "We display the candy in what we call our gift centers, or seasonal departments. In summertime we have coolers, cups and plates there, and as that sells down, those will be moved out and the seasonal candy goes in."

Seasonal candy's position in the store is "up front as soon as you walk in," Cohen said, because it is a must to merchandise candy in a high traffic location. Rice and other stores often place costumes and Halloween home videos near the candy. Rice's candy sections average 20 feet, Cohen said.

Many stores will try displays of seasonal candy in the general merchandise section, using a key item and a big sale item and pairing candy with costumes, pumpkin heads, and "things people can use to decorate their homes, or outside their homes," said Dechow. For example, cornstalks, ghosts, hats and fake cobwebs, and even mood music that is on the scary side might serve for cross merchandising. Home decor for holidays is an area that is growing constantly, she said.

Really popular for Halloween, Dechow continued, are such items as Skull Pops -- lollipops shaped like skulls -- and other "crazy ghoulish candy," like Slime Balls or Eyes of Terror, both bubble gum items.

For Christmas, candy dish items, foil wrapped items, stocking stuffers and gift tins sell best, Dechow said.

"We also suggest that retailers put items out for Kwanza," said Alice Liberson, executive vice president of National Bulk Food Distributors, Inc., a wholesaler in Taylor, Mich. Kwanza is an African harvest holiday that starts Dec. 26. Its colors are green, red and black, expressed very well in jelly beans, Liberson said. The company can also get chocolate buttons, chickel gum and licorice made in colors, and also by category, such as sugar-free. "People can create their own mixes for their customers," Liberson said.

New and different this year for Halloween are the larger sized bags of candy, like two, three or four pound bags, Cohen said. "We are buying more of them," he noted. "They are attractive packages and it's a nice dollar ring for us." The "everyday" retail prices range from $5.39 to $7.99 a bag, he added. One thing Rice never does is reduce the price of candy as a holiday nears, he said.

Big Y moved its bulk candy section, called The Candy Factory, from the produce to the grocery section in over 30 of its 41 stores early in 1997, and has found that sales are up as a result by as much as 300%, Yarrows said. The Candy Factory is a display fixture containing 48 flavors. It looks like a candy factory, said Yarrow, and is decorated with children's animation. "The move was a huge success, and we will continue to follow it," he said.

For seasonal candy, Martin's Super Markets, based in South Bend, Ind., encourages its stores to put up displays six weeks prior to Halloween and Christmas. Some of the chain's 17 stores are able to put displays up in a couple of areas. "Display space is obviously a premium and plays a major role in selling product," said Sheila Kennedy, merchandise associate for Martin's. The chain encourages tie-ins with other departments.

Advertising seasonal candy begins when the displays go up, with two to three non-competing items being promoted on a weekly basis throughout the season, she said.

Popular candy dish items for Halloween are Brach's Mellocremes and Mars M&Ms, Kennedy said. "The snack size and fun size sell throughout the season, but for Halloween, the big sell-through is the last week."

For Christmas, Martin's most popular items are candy canes, Hershey kisses, chocolate covered cherries, boxed chocolates, novelty items, and gift items for parties, according to Kennedy.

Seasonal candy, she said, can be considered both destination and impulse, depending on how the items are advertised and priced.

For example, Halloween candy for trick-or-treaters fits both definitions, since some people look for bargain prices and others don't care about the price, she said.

Normally, Martin's shelf-candy footage ranges from 16 to 28 feet. Approximately 20% is peg product, Kennedy said. A successful test done at one Martin's store last year put shelf candy at the beginning of the first grocery aisle. "Since then, we have increased the candy section by 4 feet. As we do remodels and resets, this is an option for us at other stores," Kennedy noted.

Martin's advertises candy on a regular basis in its weekly newspaper ads. Signs are put up to denote ad prices and in-store promotions. Martin's also participates in a manufacturers' sweepstakes programs.

"Our stores order their own product for ads and also take advantage of additional promotions from the vendors on a store- by-store basis. "Our candy sales have been increasing each year, and we can attribute that to our store employees and sales representatives," Kennedy said. Halloween 1997 overshadowed the other major holidays, even Christmas, according to the NCA. Halloween candy sales totalled $724 million; while Christmas sales were $598 million. So far for this year, Valentine's sales for 1998 were $423 million, while Easter garnered $684 million in sales.

Last year's Halloween was the only major holiday that was a clear winner for the supermarket channel, which garnered a 45 share. Mass merchants ruled last Christmas (a 43.1 share) and Easter (44.1 share), while drug stores took charge of Valentines Day with 36.6. For total seasonal, supermarkets got a 33.6 share, beating drug stores but coming in behind mass merchants, NCA said.

When non-seasonal candy is added, however, supermarkets came out on top, with a 46.3 share versus 30.7 for mass merchants and 23 for drug.

"We have seen real increases in candy sales as we've done more displays and offered more variety. We have captured some sales back from the mass merchants," said Spartan Stores' Dechow. "We are pretty indicative of that nationwide trend."

Retailers promoting candy as a destination item might run some cents-off coupons or markdown on the item, Dechow said, while impulse items may be promoted with a two-for-one sale, especially on candy bars and larger items that would not necessarily be a destination for a holiday. Dechow said her company does not promote unwrapped candy for Halloween distribution. These items are more popular for candy dishes at home or work. "There is still a huge concern over contaminants in Halloween candy, even at home parties," she said. Phil Cohen, grocery buyer for Rice Epicurean Markets, Houston, agreed. "Definitely individually wrapped candy versus loose for Halloween," he said. "Brach's candy corn is a big item; Hershey Kit Kats, M&M Snickers fun size and M&M Starburst Skittles fun size are some of the most popular items." Rice Epicurean Markets put up its Halloween displays the first week of September. "We display the candy in what we call our gift centers, or seasonal departments. In summertime we have coolers, cups and plates there, and as that sells down, those will be moved out and the seasonal candy goes in."

Seasonal candy's position in the store is "up front as soon as you walk in," Cohen said, because it is a must to merchandise candy in a high traffic location. Rice and other stores often place costumes and Halloween home videos near the candy. Rice's candy sections average 20 feet, Cohen said.

Many stores will try displays of seasonal candy in the general merchandise section, using a key item and a big sale item and pairing candy with costumes, pumpkin heads, and "things people can use to decorate their homes, or outside their homes," said Dechow. For example, cornstalks, ghosts, hats and fake cobwebs, and even mood music that is on the scary side might serve for cross merchandising. Home decor for holidays is an area that is growing constantly, she said.

Really popular for Halloween, Dechow continued, are such items as Skull Pops and other "crazy ghoulish candy." For Christmas, candy dish items, foil wrapped items, stocking stuffers and gift tins sell best, Dechow said.

"We also suggest that retailers put items out for Kwanza," said Alice Liberson, executive vice president of National Bulk Food Distributors, Inc., a wholesaler in Taylor, Mich. Kwanza is an African harvest holiday that starts Dec. 26. Its colors are green, red and black, expressed very well in jelly beans, Liberson said. The company can also get chocolate buttons, chickel gum and licorice made in colors, and also by category, such as sugar-free. "People can create their own mixes for their customers," Liberson said.

New and different this year for Halloween are the larger sized bags of candy, like two, three or four pound bags, Cohen said. "We are buying more of them," he noted. "They are attractive packages and it's a nice dollar ring for us." The "everyday" retail prices range from $5.39 to $7.99 a bag, he added. One thing Rice never does is reduce the price of candy as a holiday nears, he said.

Big Y moved its bulk candy section, called The Candy Factory, from the produce to the grocery section in over 30 of its 41 stores early in 1997, and has found that sales are up as a result by as much as 300%, Yarrows said. The Candy Factory is a display fixture containing 48 flavors. It looks like a candy factory, said Yarrow, and is decorated with children's animation. "The move was a huge success, and we will continue to follow it," he said.

For seasonal candy, Martin's Super Markets, based in South Bend, Ind., encourages its stores to put up displays six weeks prior to Halloween and Christmas. Some of the chain's 17 stores are able to put displays up in a couple of areas. "Display space is obviously a premium and plays a major role in selling product," said Sheila Kennedy, merchandise associate for Martin's. The chain encourages tie-ins with other departments.

Advertising seasonal candy begins when the displays go up, with two to three non-competing items being promoted on a weekly basis throughout the season, she said.

Popular candy dish items for Halloween are Brach's Mellocremes and Mars M&Ms, Kennedy said. "The snack size and fun size sell throughout the season, but for Halloween, the big sell-through is the last week."

For Christmas, Martin's most popular items are candy canes, Hershey kisses, chocolate covered cherries, boxed chocolates, novelty items, and gift items for parties, according to Kennedy.

Seasonal candy, she said, can be considered both destination and impulse, depending on how the items are advertised and priced.

For example, Halloween candy for trick-or-treaters fits both definitions, since some people look for bargain prices and others don't care about the price, she said.

Normally, Martin's shelf-candy footage ranges from 16 to 28 feet. Approximately 20% is peg product, Kennedy said. A successful test done at one Martin's store last year put shelf candy at the beginning of the first grocery aisle. "Since then, we have increased the candy section by 4 feet. As we do remodels and resets, this is an option for us at other stores," Kennedy noted.

Martin's advertises candy on a regular basis in its weekly newspaper ads. Signs are put up to denote ad prices and in-store promotions. Martin's also participates in a manufacturers' sweepstakes programs.

"Our stores order their own product for ads and also take advantage of additional promotions from the vendors on a store- by-store basis. "Our candy sales have been increasing each year, and we can attribute that to our store employees and sales representatives," Kennedy said. Halloween 1997 overshadowed the other major holidays, even Christmas, according to the NCA. Halloween candy sales totalled $724 million, while Christmas sales were $598 million. So far for this year, Valentine's sales for 1998 were $423 million, while Easter garnered $684 million in sales.

Last year's Halloween was a clear winner for the supermarket channel, which garnered a 45 share. Mass merchants ruled last Christmas (a 43.1 share) and Easter (44.1 share), while drug stores took charge of Valentine' Day with 36.6. For total seasonal, supermarkets got a 33.6 share, beating drug stores but coming in behind mass merchants, NCA said.