WEGMANS TAKES EXOTIC TURN WITH OFFER OF A NEW GENRE

LISA A. TIBBITTS

ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- Wegmans Food Markets is the first of the major supermarket chains to market a new video genre: Japanimation. Wegmans began offering feature-length videos of Japanese animation, notable for its adult nature, at some Buffalo and Rochester stores about a month and a half ago.

Japanese animation videos are highly stylized and creative, but these "cartoons" are usually not for children. Their story lines and program content make them suitable for an older customer, typically 18 to 35.

Mike Pascuzzi, director of sales for the Manhattan-based Central Park Media, which licenses and distributes the videos in the United States, said interest the videos has increased since Wegmans took the lead. Only about 5% of Central Park Media's sales are to supermarkets. Most of its business, about 90 percent, is through traditional video stores.

"Many of the grocery store chains look to Wegmans as a leader," he said. "Once Wegmans came on board and tested the product, the demand was increasing daily."

Figures are not yet available on the success of Wegmans' test, but one company executive, who asked not to be identified, was certain the videos would be distributed to other company stores if their popularity was proven.

The video department at a Wegmans' store in Buffalo carries 10 of the Japanese animated videos.

One store employee, who was contacted by SN and declined to be named, said, "Surprisingly, they have really been renting." Exact figures were not available.

"The opportunity exists [for retailers] to expand their consumer base by stocking this product," Pascuzzi said. "It's really a huge potential that is slowly being developed and cultivated."

He said CPM is set to release two new titles every month through 1995. The company is currently manufacturing about 80 titles, and it also acts as a distributor for a number of smaller companies' videos.

Derived from a popular, but equally controversial genre of Japanese comic books, called manga, the videos come to the U.S. unrated, either dubbed or subtitled in English. Pascuzzi said he expects that some would get an NC-17 rating if they were rated by the Motion Picture Association of America. Most of the titles offered by his company, though, would probably rate PG-13 or R, he said.

Pascuzzi said he believed the retailers were reluctant to accept Japanimation because of the product's image. "There's a misconception that they're all sex and violence. There's action, drama, comedy, adventure," he said. "The majority of the ones that we manufacture have violence in them."

To ensure the videos are not mistaken for traditional cartoons, retailers are encouraged to enforce the same system they use to handle rated titles. Pascuzzi suggested that retailers sticker the videos and display them in a special section. CPM licenses and distributes 200 titles through three labels: Central Park Media, U.S. Manga and Anime 18.