PENN TRAFFIC USES PRIVATE LABEL FOR FUND-RAISER

Mark Hamstra

SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Penn Traffic Co. here this week was scheduled to launch an eight-week, charity fund-raiser that involves the sale of its private-label products.

The company, which operates supermarkets under several different banners in the Northeast, will donate 2 cents for every private-label item customers purchase to local organizations that conduct breast cancer research.

Marc Jampole, spokesman, Penn Traffic, said the company hopes that its "Put in Your Two Cents Worth for Breast Cancer" fund-raiser generates $100,000 through the sale of five million units during the promotion. The fund-raiser is being advertised in the company's circulars and through other in-store materials.

"It really shows the importance of private labels to us to base a promotion on it rather than [manufacturer] brands," he said.

Penn Traffic is one of 25 regional supermarket operators that own Topco Associates, Skokie, Ill., which supplies its Top Care private-label brand and other brands to its members.

The medical centers slated to receive the proceeds from the event include: Geisinger Medical Center, Danville, Pa.; St. John's Hospital, Syracuse, N.Y.; Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Buffalo, N.Y.; and Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Research Institute, Columbus, Ohio.