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Denver’s King of Cross-Merchandising
By Renee Covino
A gala of packaged gourmet treats are sprouting up right beside the fruits and vegetables at select King Soopers stores in the Mile High City.
The supermarket
“garden” grows — but not necessarily with produce picked
from the ground. We’ve all become accustomed to finding a few
surprise items, particularly of the sweet and salty snack variety,
cross-merchandised in the produce section of our favorite grocers. The
trend has roots in bulk candy makers such as Brach’s, offering candy
pieces by the pound amidst the apples.
But it has evolved more recently to include such
delicacies as small tubs of microwavable dipping chocolate sitting right
beside the strawberries, cellophane bags of
“restaurant-quality” tortilla chips sold beneath a crate of
avocadoes, and plastic canisters of organic nuts and dried fruits neatly
stacked alongside potatoes. This here-and-there dispersing of packaged
goodies within fresh fruits and vegetables has become standard impulse fare
at competitive supermarkets across the country.
Then there are trailblazers such as Denver-based King
Soopers, a division of grocery powerhouse Kroger. This true Western pioneer
has gone way beyond what is typical in produce department
cross-merchandising.
Like many Denverites, I am familiar with the King
Soopers philosophy of “building strong local ties with its
customers,” particularly through a great assortment (often including
local brands) at typically unbeatable grocery-store prices. But what I saw
recently at a nearby “prototype” store in an upscale suburban
neighborhood blew me and my snack-happy taste buds (not to mention my
impulse shopping addiction) out the door to a tune of $61 worth of candy
and snack extras.
Most of these I found within the first five minutes of
my shopping trip, in the colorful, expansive, country-market-style and
upscale-spotlighted produce aisles. I am certain this was no mistake on
King Soopers’ part. Here were some of my findings:
A Market Feel: First of all, the
produce department was a world unto itself, angled off with outdoor
market-like slatted tables and ambiance lighting that highlighted the
multitude of colors. Overhead, wood and wrought-iron ceiling fixtures hung
from the rafters, calling attention to sprigs of dried flowers and leaves
that were tied upside-down, appearing to float. This set the stage for all
the treasure-hunt treats to come.
Gourmet Cheese Sampling Table:
Directly across from fresh fruit, this sturdy cherry wood table featured
pre-cubed, imported “cheeses of the day,” displayed under glass
domes on elegant green-marble rounds, but ready for the taking. (Was I
really in a “regular” supermarket?) Upon closer inspection, I
discovered all the “packaged jewels” creatively stacked and
placed on this table. They included a 12-oz. tub of
“Old-fashioned” Kookaburra
Liquorice from Australia, available in red and
black, for $7.29; a 7-oz. block of Imported Fondue Au Chocolate from Swiss Knight for 6.99; King
Sooper’s own brand of Marcona Fried Almonds in a gift tub for $15.49
a pound; and other odds and ends in baskets, like Margaret’s Rosemary &
Sea Salt Artisan Flatbread.
A Wooden Wheel-Barrow Display:
It’s hard not to notice an 8-ft. wooden wheel barrow tipped on its
side, with a fabulous spillage of Stacy’s all-natural baked pita chips in flavors that speak to
the produce aisle — Parmesan Garlic & Herb and Pesto &
Sundried Tomato — in convenient 6-oz., take-along bags for $3.49.
Wooden Crate Endcaps: Just in case you
were trying to stick to the onions and spaghetti squash without venturing a
few feet to the aforementioned displays, King Soopers is ready to get you
in on the packaged snacks, too. Below the onions and garlic (I swear), a
humble wooden crate encap display held a feast of deli-like plastic cartons
filled with Orchard Valley Harvest (of Modesto, Calif.) delicacies such as Chocolate
Toffee Pistachios (10 oz. for $5.49), Mixed Chocolate Coffee Beans (10 oz.
for $4.99), Asian Mix with Wasabi Peanuts (16 oz. for $2.99) and Sugared
Pineapple Quarters (15 oz. for $4.49).
A Full Antipasto and Olive Bar: This
incredible array — which ran 16 ft. on its longest side and then
curved around to the “air-shipped fresh from Europe” cheese and
dessert case, complete with a cheese steward — honestly looked like
something you’d find in a family-style Italian restaurant. It was
even longer than similar displays in stores such as Whole Foods. There were
no candy and snacks within the serve yourself/by the pound cases, but there
were plenty to be found behind the back-end in a special stacked display of
mostly imported (from Italy and Greece) snack crackers and “petit
toasts.”
The cross-merchandising genius of King Soopers’
new expanded produce prototype was such that shoppers could never leave the
produce section and still get all the confections and snacks their hearts
desired and carts could hold. It made me wonder: Would any of us ever visit
the candy aisle again?
Honorable Mentions in the Candy Aisle
Yes, I admit, after being wildly satisfied by the
sinful selection of confections and snacks in the produce section, there
wasn’t much incentive to visit the regular candy aisle at King
Soopers. I mean, just how much sugar and spice could a gal throw into her
shopping cart in one shopping trip? But as a candy and snack editor, I knew
the responsible thing to do was to at least take a gander.
So from my position in the glamorous produce section,
just off the store’s no-door entrance (just a big, open-air
entryway), I walked — and walked and walked — all the way back
to the second-to-last aisle (No. 22, to be exact). There, I found candy,
clearly marketed towards a less-mature customer, as it shared the aisle
with toys.
“Ho-hum,” I thought, as I pushed past the
typical lay-down bags of promoted “snack size” candies
(although I did note that many were set at great price-points of two bags
for $5 or even $4). I literally yawned past the 4 ft. of generic peg-bagged
assortments of gumballs and gummy worms.
I was about to call it a King Soopers Day. Then,
toward the end of the aisle, on the top shelf (where else would my fellow
female shoppers gaze while waiting for their kids-in-tow to make candy
selections), I saw Merci Finest Assortment of European Chocolates (made in Germany by
Storck). An 8.8-oz. box of 20 individually wrapped pieces — including
cream truffles, praline crèmes, dark creams, and hazelnut
crèmes — was $7.49.
Curious now, I glanced further down this top shelf and
spotted a familiar upscale brand name: Starbucks. I had not yet seen the coffee company’s
much-touted chocolate selection, but here at my local King Soopers, there
was a pretty complete assortment, including the box I just had to purchase:
Chocolate & Tea Tasting Squares (the store’s most expensive
confectionery item at $5.49 for 2.64 oz.).
Fully perked up now, I noticed even more adult,
top-shelf selections such as Lindt,
Ghirardhelli, and Toblerone, all offered at the quite impressive “everyday
low prices” that King Soopers has become famous for ($2.79, $2.49 and
$2.39, respectively).
But it was the 4-by-4-ft. shelf section, just at the
end of the aisle, that brought me the most personal delight. It was a true
Denver display: an impressive offering of locally packed candies and snacks
under the name “Rocky Mountain Treats,” fairly priced and
artistically packaged in clear bags. For example, “Continental
Divide” yogurt-covered raisins (9 oz. for $2.99), “Union
Station” Sesame Sticks (7 oz. for $1.99), and “Durango and
Silverton” chipotle peanuts (8 oz. for $2.99). I added these three
products (and others) to my already overstuffed cart.
King Soopers proved to me that even with a killer
selection of gourmet items up-front, it still knew how to please kids of
all ages in the candy aisle, even if the store did bury such treats in the
back. And it wasn’t all candy, per se, that got me. It was the superb
cross-merchandising by my newly crowned king.