PUBLIX SUPER MARKETS CO-SPONSORS ATLANTA WOMEN'S EXPO

RICHARD TURCSIK

ATLANTA -- Publix Super Markets showed the women of Atlanta why Publix should be their premier shopping destination when it co-sponsored the Atlanta Women's Expo.

At the event, Publix showcased its stores and the various services that it offers shoppers, such as its Baby Club. Kimberly-Clark's Huggies diapers sponsored a Huggies Baby Derby at the Expo to promote its products and the Publix Baby Club.

"This creates great exposure, especially when you are still fairly new in the market," R.H. "Bob" Moore, vice president of Publix's Atlanta Division here, told SN.

"It gives us an opportunity to actually have a captive audience that we can tell the Publix story to," he added. The event, held last month at the Cobb Galleria Centre, drew more than 13,000 attendees, about 1,000 more than it did in 1996.

Lakeland, Fla.-based Publix entered the Atlanta market in 1993, and currently has more than 55 stores in the Peach State. This is the third year that it participated in the Expo.

Moore said Publix heavily advertised its sponsorship of the event with point-of-purchase displays, in-store banners, cashier lapel pins and $3 coupons off the $7 admission price. In addition, the Expo was heavily promoted in newspapers and a special insert reached over 1.4 million Sunday readers.

More than 70 food manufacturers also exhibited at the Atlanta Women's Expo, including many Center Store suppliers.

"Most of the dry groceries were represented by manufacturers and brokers who were there with their food. They covered a wide section of products," Moore said.