ALBERTSON'S DIVISION OFFERING IVES HEALTH LINE

MATTHEW W. EVANS

AURORA, Colo. -- Albertson's Rocky Mountain division here this month began merchandising natural products marketed by Ives Health Co, Claremore, Okla.

The division is selling the products on power panels attached to endcaps located in each unit's in-store pharmacy, the supplier said. Although the Boise, Idaho-based retailer could not be reached for comment, Ives president Keith Ives, who has worked with Albertson's for two years, said product began shipping direct to 38 of the division's 66 units Aug. 7.

The Rocky Mountain division will see its 39th in-store pharmacy, a remodel, open at the end of this month. That store will also roll out the line, according to Ives. A broker company was scheduled to set the panels once the product was received at stores.

Under the "Ives Health" brand name, the products are sold on the drug floor in this case, "mainly because the pharmacist can explain how our product works or if there are any drug interactions," said Perry Ives, vice president of marketing for the supplier.

This is the fifth Albertson's division to carry the offering, a line comprised of four product categories -- homeopathic medicines, natural remedies, weight management and nutritional snacks. "The names of the products are symptom-specific," Perry Ives said.

Houston, Dallas, Great Plains and Memphis are the other Albertson's divisions that carry the Ives line, Keith Ives said.

Other food retailers that carry the line are Winn-Dixie Stores, Dillons, Harps Food Stores and Brookshire Grocery. Co., Keith Ives said.