In-Store articles from September 2003

In-Store archives from September 2003

Spar installs in-house TV.(News)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2003... Convenience store group Spar is is to trial in-store screens during September, using the RePromotion Digital Media Network from IQ Group. The RePromotion system takes the form of an online network of screens located in aisles and on...

Safeway samples in car parks.(News)(to use concession management company Access Point to run its car park sampling)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2003... Safeway is to use concession management company Access Point to run its car park sampling, throughout its store network, from this month. Access Point currently runs all short-term concessions and transaction receipt marketing for the...

Fashion retailer USC is has unveiled a new store interior format developed by design consultancy Fitch:London.(News)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2003... Fashion retailer USC is has unveiled a new store interior format developed by design consultancy Fitch:London. The latest look has been launched in the chain's Manchester store and will also be seen in the high-profile store at Birmingham's...

Children choose sweets in the shop, says survey.(News)(71% of children buying sweets decide what they want to buy instore according to research)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2003... Seventy-one per cent of children buying sweets decide what they want to buy instore, according to research carried out by Coutts Retail Communications. Children spend the majority of their pocket money on sweets. Factors found to influence...

Nigel Johnston-Maude.(News)(vice chairman of POPAI and retail marketing manager at Halifax Bank of Scotland has died)(Brief Article)(Obituary)
September 1, 2003... Nigel Johnston-Maude, vice chairman of POPAI and retail marketing manager at Halifax Bank of Scotland, has died. POPAI members and HBOS colleagues have paid tribute to his humour, hard work and dedication. He is credited with doing much to...

Eye store unveils its Vision for the future.(News)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2003... Vision Express will be one of the retailers to unveil a new store format in Birmingham's rejuvenated Bullring centre, which will open this month. The chain is putting the finishing touches to a new concept "optical lab store" inspired by...

The Nestle Munch Bunch yoghurt brand is offering a children's book free with each purchase of a 12-pack of the fruit-flavoured yoghurt.(News)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2003... The Nestle Munch Bunch yoghurt brand is offering a children's book free with each purchase of a 12-pack of the fruit-flavoured yoghurt. Three different illustrated books are available, telling the stories of Andy Apricot, Sally Strawberry and...

Parents condemn junk food ads.(News)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2003... Seventy per cent of parents, concerned that food marketing encourages children to hanker after junk food, think TV advertising of junk foods during children's viewing times should be stopped. The finding comes from a Which? survey,...

Gillette's Mach3 Turbo razors are on promotion for the first time since the product range was launched in January.(News)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2003... Gillette's Mach3 Turbo razors are on promotion for the first time since the product range was launched in January. A four-week offer sees the triple-bladed razors available for half their usual retail price. An integrated above--and...

Focus Wickes has a branding makeover.(News)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2003... DIY group Focus Wickes is planning to expand the number of its stores as part of a growth plan, which also encompasses revised own-brand packaging and new in-store initiatives. Focus Wickes operates under dual brands, each offering a...

Lateral thinking for Domestos campaign.(News)(ID has created an in-store campaign for Domestos Thickest Ever Bleach)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2003... Marketing agency ID has created an in-store campaign for Domestos Thickest Ever Bleach. It is currently running in more than 100 Sainsbury's, Tesco and Safeway stores. Because it is not possible to sample bleach within stores, brand...

Retailers rake in profit from pre-holiday spending sprees.(News)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2003... UK holiday-makers spend nearly a third of their total holiday spending cash stocking up on last-minute "essentials" before going abroad. Research conducted by TNS for American Express has found that not only do consumers spend 30 per cent...

AAC rescues In-Store Display.(News)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2003... In-Store Display has become a wholly-owned subsidiary of manufacturer AAC Group after being forced to cease trading last month (In-Store, August 2003). AAC Group has been in operation since 1979 and has an annual turnover in excess of 30m...

Lucozade kicks off rugby promotion.(News)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2003... The latest campaign for Lucozade Sport exploits the brand's partnership with the England Rugby Union team, tipped to win the Rugby World Cup in November. A competition offers prizes of trips to the team's training camp in Sydney. The initiative...

Dabs.com lands in Liverpool airport.(News)(opened a retail outlet at Liverpool's John Lennon Airport)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2003... Specialist online retailer dabs.com, which focuses on IT and technology products, has opened a retail outlet at Liverpool's John Lennon Airport.

3G promotion rolls out in mobile stores.(News)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2003... Hutchison 3G has launched a campaign to promote its mobile services throughout mobile phone stores The Link, Carphone Warehouse and Dixons, run by through-the-line agency The Source. In-store support will take the form of P-O-P, channel...

Mobile brand opens interactive flagship.(News)(O2 has opened the doors of its flagship store)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2003... O2 has opened the doors of its flagship store at 368 Oxford Street. The store claims to be "100 per cent interactive" and is divided into three sections: a youth-oriented basement featuring the latest gadgetry, a ground floor with a strong...

KitKat takes a bite out of new market.(News)(Nestle is launching KitKat Kubes)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2003... Nestle is launching the UK's favourite cofectionery brand, KitKat, into the bitesize market. Its new line, KitKat Kubes, will be supported by a 48m [pounds sterling] marketing spend over five years. The campaign's strapline encourages consumers...

Golden Nuggets is foiled for choice.(News)(gold holofoil used to increase shelf impact for a special relaunch package of cereal)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2003... A gold holofoil has been used to increase shelf impact for a special relaunch package of Golden Nuggets cereal. API Foils used holographic technology to set the Nestle product apart in an increasingly competitive market. [ILLUSTRATION...

Choice cuts: an influential think tank claims consumers are offered too much choice, and that the world suffers as a result.(News Analysis)
September 1, 2003... Improving customer choice has long been a mantra for retailers. But are things all they seem? In its latest report, A Better Choice of Choice, think tank the Fabian Society argues that consumer choice has a negative impact on society as a...

Ads must go below the line.(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
September 1, 2003... Big media agencies incorporating in-store marketing capability might find it easier to create effective through-the-line campaigns ("WPP looks in-store", In-Store August 2003)? I don't think so. Your analysis says the advertising sector is...

TV has to be used correctly.(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
September 1, 2003... Your comments on retailers' use of television (Leader, August) are on the money. Experience tells us that clients must look to retail TV first and foremost to achieve core marketing objectives in informing the consumer and enhancing the...

Nigel Johnston-Maude.(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
September 1, 2003... As you may have been aware, Nigel Johnston-Maude, vice chairman of POPAI and retail marketing manager at Halifax Bank of Scotland, was battling against cancer for the past year. It is with great sadness that I inform you he lost his fight...

Straight talking can head off complaints.(Leader)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2003... It's always good to see somebody using their initiative and the hot weather has evidently brought out this trait in some retail staff. It is surprising how quickly people will react if it can reduce the amount of work they have to do or...

The light fantastic: Christina Fromont of Supreme Petfoods is enchanted by the Whistles store in Guildford.(Display Of The Month)
September 1, 2003... "Walking into the Whistles store on Guildford High Street is like stepping back in time into a world of oldfashioned British glamour," says Christina Fremont, marketing communications executive at Supreme Petfoods. "The dark wood floors and...

Plastic fantastic, PET: Jorg Willich, creative director of branding consultants Landor Associates in Hamburg, thinks it's time the beer market raised its glass to PET packaging.(Global Talk)
September 1, 2003... Increasingly, PET plastic bottle technology is replacing traditional packaging materials such as glass bottles or drinks cans in many areas of the German market. Higher demands in terms of convenience, logistics and environmental protection...

Chinese car market goes into overdrive.(International News)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2003... Rising incomes, plummeting car prices and new roads are driving car sales among the 1.3bn Chinese population. In 2002, passenger car sales topped one million for the first time and in the first six months of this year sales were 85 per cent...

Devalued euro worries investors.(International News)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2003... The euro has lost nine per cent of its value against the US dollar since June, leaving investors concerned about the state of the European economy. Four European countries, including Germany and Italy, are currently in recession.

Kings acquisition fails to materialise.(International News)(Marks & Spencer's third attempt to sell its US supermarket chain Kings has failed)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2003... Marks & Spencer's third attempt in four years to sell its US supermarket chain Kings has failed. The project was abandoned after would-be-buyers failed to raise sufficient funds. M&S chief executive Roger Holmes says: "In the current US market,...

Vodafone offloads Japanese line.(International News)(is selling its Japanese fixed line telephone business to Ripplewood Holdings)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2003... Vodafone, the world's largest mobile phone company, is selling its Japanese fixed line telephone business to US investment fund Ripplewood Holdings for 261bn [yen] (1.4bn [pounds sterling]). The sale of a Japanese operation involving two...

Union fails to excite Wal-Mart staff.(International News)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2003... Wal-Mart staff in Manitoba, Canada, have rejected joining the United Food and Commercial Workers Union, in a union vote.

Young shoppers benefit Indian retail.(International News)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2003... A new breed of Indian consumer is on the rise. Young, more wealthy and willing to spend on anything from mobile phones to trainers, they are increasingly appealing to multinational businesses. It is estimated that the number of people living in...

Bank comes back to South Africa.(International News)(Standard Chartered Bank bought the internet bank 20twenty )(Brief Article)
September 1, 2003... The Standard Chartered Bank is returning to the South African retail banking market. The bank bought the internet bank 20twenty at the end of August. Analysts predict this year and the next will bring aggressive interest rate cuts, which will...

It's bid time for Debenhams: Lauren Mills, business correspondent at the Sunday Telegraph, is sceptical about Debenhams' funding of rival bidders and waits for the big bang in consumer spending.(City Talk)
September 1, 2003... The board of Debenhams must have spent far too long in the midday sun. Why else would it be mad enough to pay up to 6m[pounds sterling] to CVC Capital Partners and Texas Pacific Group, to encourage the venture capital firms to feign interest in...

Safeway bidders wait for report.(News)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2003... The Competition Commission has delivered its report on the bidding battle for supermarket group Safeway. The detailed report is currently being examined by the Department of Trade and Industry and an announcement is expected at the end of...

Growth at Asda leaves rivals in shade.(News)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2003... Asda, ranked as Britain's second largest supermarket group, has revealed sales growth that outpaces many of its rivals. The rise for the second quarter to the end of July was in the "high single digits", with underlying sales growth in the "low...

Sales up and margins down at Borders.(News)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2003... Borders Group achieved consolidated sales of 525.4m [pounds sterling] ($826.9m) for the second quarter, an increase of 8.3 per cent over 2002. As expected, gross margin as a percentage of sales declined in the second quarter to 25.5 per cent...

Gap sews up threefold sales increase.(News)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2003... Gap has reported that, driven by double-digit percentage increases in sales and gross profit, earnings for the second quarter rose more than three times over the last year to 132.8m [pounds sterling] ($209m). The company has announced four...

Lifestyle choice expands M&S offering.(News)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2003... Marks & Spencer is to extend its Lifestyle store pilot to Lakeside, West Thurrock and Kingston-upon-Thames. A Gateshead store is already under development.

Powerhouse runs out of juice.(News)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2003... Powerhouse, the country's largest independent electrical goods retailer, has gone into receivership. The closure of 93 stores has resulted in 800 job losses and doubts have been raised about the job security of the remaining 2,200 staff.

SARS rings alarm bells at Swatch.(News)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2003... The Swatch Group has announced its results for the first half of the year. A strong first quarter was followed by a Weaker second quarter, with reduced sales blamed on the SARS virus, sluggish consumer spending and the continuing strength of...

Cafe society: as retail brand manager for BP Connect and Wild Bean Cafe, Clare Grimes has the unenviable task of challenging popular views of forecourt food. Matthew Valentine finds out how she is selling the idea of quality to the cynics.(Profile: Clare Grimes, BP Connect, & Wild Bean Cafe)
September 1, 2003... Clare Grimes is working so hard to change preconceptions about petrol forecourt retailing that she has arrived by train. As UK retail brand manager for BP's Connect and Wild Bean Cafe brand--a sophisticated convenience store and eat-in or...

Parallel lines: it's not uncommon for goods bought outside the EU to end up on UK shelves. But is parallel trading legal and what damage is it doing to brand name owners?(Market Report)
September 1, 2003... Buying a can of Coke is simple for consumers, but sometimes they may ponder the complicated supply chain behind the purchase. If they buy their Coke at a corner shop in London's West End, it is likely they will acquire a Coca-Cola Light...

Bright lights inner city: as the Birmingham Bullring gets ready for business in the heart of the city, Michael Bird takes stock of UK shopping Centres and asks if this is the shape of things to come.(Retail Focus)
September 1, 2003... The people behind Birmingham's new Bullring do not call the multitude of enclosed retail outlets a shopping centre. "It's a shopping destination," says Mel Evans, marketing manager for one of Bullring's owners, Hammerson. "It's an...

Survival of the fitters: P-O-P installation companies are working harder than ever to fulfil the increasing demands of clients.(Special Report)
September 1, 2003... In a world where more brands are competing for the same space, narrower promotional windows put more emphasis on the benefits of P-O-P display materials. But such confidence from brand managers and retailers can translate into stress for the...

Crime time for retailers: retailers are embracing technology such as RFID in the fight against today's cavalier new generation of shoplifters.(Special Report)
September 1, 2003... "People shoplift because it's easy and there are very few criminal deterrents that would make them think twice," says Professor Joshua Bamfield, director of the Centre for Retail Research. According to the centre's publication, The...

The question of ownership.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2003... POPAI's recent seminar on intellectual property has thrown up a number of key issues for the industry. The question of who owns what, when designs are produced by one company for another, has historically not been treated with the respect...

Digital printing comes on board.(Product News)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2003... Manufacturer of marketing display printing materials, Dufaylite, is launching its new Ultra Board Displays this month. The boards are designed for direct digital printing in a wide variety of printer systems. The company is marketing blank...

HL enters frame academy with silver display models.(Product News)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2003... HL Display has introduced a 15-strong range of aluminium poster holders. The selection includes front-opening and sliding-door versions. The cases, priced from 99 [pounds sterling] and upwards, are available in sizes ranging from A3 to a...

LCD screen hits the UK.(Product News)(Iiyama UK launches ProLite C480T LCD TV system)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2003... Technology provider Iiyama UK has launched the new ProLite C480T LCD TV system into the UK market. The range is designed for application within the in-store environment, either as a conventional TV screen or a PC-driven entertainment or...

Mounts feel the pressure.(Product News)
September 1, 2003... Print Mount Pro, a new pressure-sensitive mounting system, will feature among Seal Graphics products shown at graphics and signmaking industry show, Viscom. The show will take place in Dusseldorf from 4 to 6 September. The Print Mount Pro...

Skate board for gondolas.(Product News)(IMGR launches FOURMI)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2003... French company IMGR has launched FOURMI, a skate-based system for moving heavy gondolas, into the UK market. The company claims there are hygiene and marketing problems inherent in the stationary nature of supermarket gondolas. It says the...

STA Travel.(Eye On Design)(store design)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2003... "Experience is everything", according to the wall posters. Young, hip, trendy and vibrant, STA is a slick, professional operation but it doesn't feel corporate. The staff aren't in uniform and their individuality is expressed through details...

Travel Choice.(Eye On Design)(store design)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2003... From the outside, the Travel Choice logo looks modern and bright. The graphic treatment is carried through well to define the holiday categories in-store, The entrance is welcoming and a coffee bar greets you with a simple printed "hello". On...

Thomas Cook.(Eye On design)(store design)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2003... This is a spacious environment with intelligent communication; each message or image focuses on contributing to the universal appeal of the agent. The offers on the window and interior are well organised and--thank goodness--the space isn't...

Lunn Poly.(Eye On design)(store design)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2003... Strong, dark colour provides an authoritative air. But despite the music and vanilla-scented calm, Lunn Poly's look doesn't feel especially welcoming, The store is neat and well organised but the images on the walls look like standard brochure...