The Clipper Rack from Midway Displays, Bedford Park, Ill., boasts a patented design that allows the display to fold flat to make shipping nothing less than a snap, the company claims.

The new rack for bagged products comes in a variety of configurations. They include a 36-clip countertop display and 72- and 108-clip floor displays.

The rack’s ability to fold flat is beneficial to vendors and retailers in a variety of ways, explains Midway Displays general manager, Marco Prete.

First and foremost, it drastically reduces shipping costs because the carton in which it ships is so much smaller than a  “non-folding” version of the display rack would require. Prete says that a 72-clip display can be packed 108 per skid. A trailer holds 24 skids, so that translates to 2,592 displays per trailer load. Only 600 conventional 72-count display racks could be shipped in one trailer, by Prete’s calculation, so the shipping advantage is readily apparent.

In addition, the racks are less likely than conventional display racks to sustain damage during shipping, Prete says. Because the folding rack is so compact, it also saves vendors space and money in the warehouse. The Clipper Rack is available not only with traditional injection-molded bases, but with bases that can be “mobilized” with the addition of casters.

The rack is particularly advantageous for route drivers, Prete maintains.  “A route salesman traveling around the city setting up candy displays can get many, many more of these small cartons into the back of his van or car,” he observes.

The Clipper Rack was introduced in June. Hershey Foods placed the first order for the new racks, says Prete, and other major industry players have followed suit.

A supplier of an extensive line of display fixtures and components, Midway Displays offers its clients the ability to customize rack bases with their choice of color and with a variety of decorating and silk screening options.

Innovative Candy Concepts bills its new countertop display as “the world’s smallest candy store.”

The display features all five new formulations of Too Tarts SmartChoice in a 24-count step display that measures only 6 inches wide and 4 inches deep.

The new display was designed as a result of the success of the company’s 20-inch candy section, an all-inclusive marketing kit complete with a channel strip, built-in UPC codes and colorful signage. 

ICC President and CEO Armand Hammer says the company’s experience with the 20-inch candy section alerted him to “the need for great things coming in small packages.”

Ce De Candy Co., maker of Smarties Candy Rolls, has launched its own campaign this fall with a get-out-the-vote initiative under the banner of “Smarties Vote.”

Smarties has partnered with the non-profit organization “Rock the Vote” for the effort. Ce De has manufactured 500,000 special edition candies with wrappers bearing the slogan “Rock the Vote” and is distributing the candies along with specially printed T-shirts. The T-shirts are printed with the admonition, “Don’t Be Stupid: Smarties Vote.”

Marketers at Bethlehem, Pa.-based Just Born Inc. report that their new positioning of the Mike and Ike brand appears to be paying off.

The brand revamping effort featured a reformulation to incorporate real fruit juice flavor, new packaging graphics and the introduction of a new pack-type—2.12-ounce bags. Supporting these changes was the rollout of an integrated, teen-focused marketing program that included a summer radio campaign.

According to the company, Information Resources Inc. data shows that since the changes have been made, sales have surged by 24 percent.