Memorial Day Merchandising Tips – 2016
MERCHANDISING TIPS:
• Your fruit counters should be reset with fresh crop stone fruit, soft fruit, grapes, and melons by Thursday May 26st. Don’t play catch up throughout the holiday weekend.
• Expand your berry sections. Full variety is available on Organic and Conventional berries, including some big packs.
• Your vegetable counters also need to have some adjustments made. Cut back the spacing on the hard cooking vegetables such as turnips, winter squashes, parsnips, etc. The key items to expand will be corn, lettuces, tomatoes, celery, cabbage and slaw mix, green & mixed color peppers, cucumbers, radishes, scallions, portabella mushroom caps & slices, sweet onions and new potatoes.
• Drive sales and margin through melon displays. Find sharp price points for whole melons and also build large refrigerated or ice displays of cuts and halves, sold at higher per pound prices. This extra margin on cuts will provide nice profit mix and options for shoppers.
POPULAR DISPLAY THEMES:
• Veggie Grilling – Try a display that includes Organic or Conventional: Vidalia onions, stoplight peppers,asparagus, portabella mushroom caps & slices, eggplant, anise, count russet potatoes, and green & yellow squash. You might even want to tray up a combination of these items and weigh it at $4.99 lb. Tie in Garlic Expressions and other marinades and minced garlic.
• Corn Crazy – Build a large, secondary display of corn using a bin dummied up to control your display quantities. Position a clean trashcan at the display for your customers to shuck their corn. To make very good margin, trim, strip and tray pack 5 ears of corn and get premium retail for the added value and convenience.
• Tomato Patch – Mass display tomatoes using grapes, vine ripes, beefsteaks, cocktail and browns, heirlooms, mixed cherries and clusters. Be sure to add basil to these displays.
DELIVERIES AND PLANNING:
• Order your hard goods and semi-perishables to hit your store early – by Tuesday, May 24th or Wednesday, May 25th. Get ‘em in and load up the department. These are items that you don’t want to be fooling with come the weekend: salad dressings, dips, salsa, juices, croutons, fruit dips, nuts, etc. Have your evening associates pack out these sections at night. Avoid that congestion in your aisle during business hours.
• Bring in your hard vegetables and fruit by Thursday, May 26th. These lines and items include: potatoes, onions, carrots, mini carrots, apples, pears, oranges, lemons & limes, honeydew, cantaloupe, pineapple and bin watermelon.
• There is no need to be overly cautious with bin watermelons. This is only the beginning of the summer picnic season. Your risk is low even if you have a few extra melons after the holiday. Store watermelons at room temperature.
• Bring in your corn by the pallet and try to have it in by Thursday, May 26th and Friday, May 27th and keep it watered or iced down.
• Don’t be stuck waiting on a truck. Load up early and attempt to spread your tonnage throughout the week to help level the volume.
