STACKING THE DECKS IN MEAT

MINA WILLIAMS

The ascendancy of value-added merchandising is making the meat department go vertical.

Multideck self-service cases are creating new space for retailers who are otherwise hard-pressed to find room for more value-added and oven-ready items. It's a challenge, but many are finding that densing up and going vertical allows them to keep all the variety and selection they need within the strict confines of the refrigerated case.

Most operators report three-deck cases as the norm.

"In all of our stores, we have three-deck self-service cases," said Arley Morrison, vice president of meat at Minyard Food Stores, Coppell, Texas. "Triple decks are more merchandiseable. By using multiple decks we are able to expand our meat merchandising without costing us space."

But sometimes, even three-deck cases are being stretched to the limit, and some operators are opting for equipment with up to five decks.

The cost of floor space is one of the compelling forces behind this sprouting upward, retail analysts say. More sales per square foot is the key.

Retailers said some of the merchandising cases hit upwards of 54 inches, effectively doubling the typical refrigerated space.

With the densing up comes a certain warehouse-style effect, however. Savvy retailers are attempting to break that effect up so as not to erode any further the butcher-shop feel of their departments.

Some operators, for instance, are seeking out specialty fixtures, such as kiosks and low-profile service cases, to make departments appear more interesting and diverse to the eye. In addition, new configurations for the densed-up cases are also being employed to offer a variation of the merchandising look without losing the gains in selling space.

Supervalu, Minneapolis, for example, has been successfully testing 54-inch tall, three-deck units, set back to back in an island configuration, in its Cub corporate retail stores. The identical case is also modified to 60 inches tall with a fourth deck, installed for positioning against the wall of the department and balancing out the look.

"The island unit is lower and gives the department increased visibility, without sacrificing refrigerated space," said Dwane Chambers, refrigeration manager. "It gives the department more eye-level viewing and does not block the shopper's view."

Department eye appeal is being met at some other stores by segmenting the dense cases into sections coordinated by category and product segments.

Minyard places all items related to cookouts together in one section. Black trays are used to set the section off from the regular case run.

The retailers agreed that the best eye appeal of all is maintained by offering fresh products.

"Freshness is the key to eye appeal," said Morrison. "Keeping everything fresh is emphasized every day in our stores." Meat is ground at least two times per day at store level at Minyard, for example.

Besides the challenge of minimizing the clutter, retailers are also struggling, no matter how dense the new merchandisers may be, to accommodate more products in cramped space.

At Minyard, "we work in new items by reducing facings of others already in the case," said Morrison. "If it sells, it gets more space."

The chain uses district meat department supervisors, who are responsible for 12 to 16 units, to assist in micromerchandising. The supervisors know the marketplace and help the stores merchandise each department's variety, selection and package size based upon shoppers' buying patterns.

Each store operates off the standard planogram of where to display various selections, Morrison said. The variable comes in the amount of meat placed in the case, which is left to the discretion of each store.

"We have to be careful about profits and careful not to do something that makes us feel good, but that is not what the customer wants," said Morrison. "We don't want to kid ourselves."

Meat executives are busy using multideck cases to build high-volume, self-service departments for a reason: the power of the oven-ready selections they are accommodating. In essence, they are drawing the meat department into competition with the restaurant down the street.

"Retailers are responding to consumer demands," said Howard Solganik, president of Solganik & Associates, Dayton, Ohio. "Consumers come into a store asking not 'what's for sale' but rather 'what's for dinner,' and so the center of the store becomes the meat department."

Self-service cases offer an opportunity for oven-ready items, according to Solganik.

"Consumers who seek out the products are time-pressed," he said. "They do not have the patience to stand in line or chat with the counter person."

"We are selling more oven-ready items than ever before," said Morrison. "As we merchandise and make the department profitable, our main goal is to give the customer what they are looking for. This is our concentrated effort to take care of our customers in every location."

Rosauers Supermarkets, Spokane, Wash., added an oven-ready line to its self-service offerings in early April. The offerings will include stuffed hens, stuffed chicken breasts, fajita mix and kabobs. These items were previously offered in the service case and will be double-faced in both fixtures for a time.

"People may think that we are a bit behind the times," said Bill Haraldson, executive vice president. "But our marketing area has not demanded a huge selection of oven-ready prepared items. Everyone thinks that oven-ready is the wave of the future. We have to play to our market."

Despite the space and labor advantages to self-service cases, many operators are not turning their back on the power of service cases within the department.

Rosauers, for one, has service cases in all of its units and will retain them for the time being.

"Somewhere down the road we may have to re-evaluate our position, but for now we will continue to offer service meat cases in all of our stores," said Haraldson.

Minyard Food Stores has made a firm commitment to the service case, where appropriate to the location.

"As new stores go in, we put in a service meat case along with the sausage kitchen and gourmet meat section," Morrison said.

Minyard uses product assortments to help distinguish between the service and self-service offerings. In the service case the chain offers Angus beef; in the self-service case the chain offers Select lean beef from 650- to 750-pound weight cattle, for example.

"Our clientele dictates what we do with our service counters," said Morrison. "We offer the custom, specialty cuts along with meat loaf, stuffed peppers, stuffed chops and stuffed chicken breasts. We are after customer acceptance."

Even giant chain Safeway, Oakland, Calif., tries to allow the clientele of particular stores to dictate whether a service case is installed into a new store or remodel, according to a chain official.

"Our units vary and it is our responsibility to meet the needs of each and every individual unit's customer base," the source said.

Retailers for the most part said that where service cases are adjacent to self-service merchandisers, it is the specialty and thick cuts that are spotlighted within the service case. Often the service case is used to test oven-ready items before they are offered as self-service products.

In some cases, even the service cases are showing hints of department densing. Rosauers service cases, for example, feature a fully stocked tray approach to meat merchandising. Typically thicker cuts, oven-ready items and high-end steaks are offered in the service case.

Minyard also uses a full-tray approach to service case merchandising. "This look enhances the case and emphasizes to the customer our variety of offerings," Morrison said.