WINN-DIXIE PUSHES EDLP WITH VALENTINE'S DAY FLIER

LISA SAXTON

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Winn-Dixie Stores here created a 16-page, in-store flier that celebrated Valentine's Day and showed off the chain's everyday low pricing on brand name grocery products.

"Stock Up on Sweets for Your Sweet," proclaimed the flier's cover, complete with cupids and hearts. More than $30 worth of coupons and refunds were offered on the flier's inside pages, which were bordered by more Valentine hearts.

All the chain's divisions participated in the promotion, said Mickey Clerc, Winn-Dixie's director of advertising.

He said this was part of an ongoing emphasis on the chain's grocery EDLP strategy. "We periodically put out these fliers filled with in-store promotional items, coupons and things of that nature for our customers," explained Clerc. "The main thing is, we're trying to communicate with our customers about our lower prices.

"We're an everyday-low-price operator. So, generally speaking, our prices are good for a long period of time; we don't have the specials like some stores do," he added.

Thus, the in-store flier serves as a way to place coupons made available by manufacturers, as well as a chance to reinforce the chain's image of a wide variety of lower grocery prices in its consumers' minds, he said.

The promotional flier was available from Feb. 10 to 23. It featured an inside spread of Campbell's products and a back page of Kellogg's items.