MARTIN SLOANE \ Supermarket Shopper Publication of color circular changed grocery advertising

The weekly color circular is a supermarket shopper's guide to important grocery savings. Armed with the color circulars and a big coupon file, smart shoppers sit down at the kitchen table each week to plan their savings adventures.
There was a time when there were no color circulars. If you can remember shopping back in the 1950s and 60s, supermarkets used black-and-white ads in the local newspapers. They often crammed 300 or more sale specials on a page.
ShopRite supermarkets are market leaders in the Northeast, and are particularly strong in the New York metropolitan area. They are known for low prices and exceptional promotions like their annual "Can-Can" Sale. ShopRite is unusual in that it is the largest retailer-owned cooperative in the country, meaning the stores are, for the most part, owned by independent grocers. The organization that binds them together, Wakefern Food Corporation of Elizabeth, N.J., does their purchasing, warehousing and delivery.
The first
In October, 1973, shoppers in areas served by the ShopRite stores found an unusual advertisement in their mailboxes: a 16-page full color ShopRite circular. It changed the way supermarkets advertised. Here is the story told to me by Marty Goldberg, who was the director of Wakefern's grocery division at the time.
In 1973, the ShopRite stores were a loosely knit group of about 150 family-owned and operated supermarkets spread along the East Coast from Connecticut to Delaware. Wakefern planned promotions with the grocery product manufacturers, but each storeowner decided what to feature in its own weekly newspaper advertisement. At that time, Keys Martin, Wakefern's advertising agency, came up with an unusual idea. If the Wakefern grocery buyers could put together enough great buys -- several hundred of them -- to fill a circular, it could be printed in color. An important element of the Keys Martin proposal was mailing the circular to every household in ShopRite neighborhoods, so as to attract the competition's customers as well. The agency predicted it could have an impact on sales.
As the Wakefern executives and the owner/members of the board of directors considered the plan, they realized there were many potential problems. At the time, it took 12 weeks to prepare a color circular and the perishable buyers objected. Trying to predict produce prices 12 weeks in advance was a huge problem. Some of the storeowners also objected. They did not like the idea of having to stock up on every item in the circular and they did not know exactly how much to order. Despite the apprehension, the board gave Keys Martin its approval.
Marty Goldberg remembers the air of excitement the week in October when the first circular was to be delivered. The 150 stores received the circular merchandise on Tuesday. Most of the owners put up the displays and big sale signs the day the merchandise was delivered. Some items were sold out before the sale was to begin on Sunday.
Success
In most areas, ShopRite television commercials told shoppers to watch for the color circulars in the mail. The colorful 16-page circular was delivered on Thursday and it brought shoppers into the stores in droves. "Sales went crazy," says Marty. By Sunday the shelves with the circular items, were bare.
At Wakefern, the phones rang off the hook, ShopRite owners pleading for immediate delivery to restock the shelves. Wakefern called the manufacturers to ask for emergency shipments. "One of the hot items was Rival dog food, a six-pack for 69-cents," recalls Marty. "Rival diverted shipments from every part of the East Coast so the ShopRite shelves could be restocked." The circulars were supposed to be good for three weeks and the ShopRite stores and Wakefern struggled to keep up. "Every grocery manufacturer wanted to be in the next color circular," says Marty. "Every item in that circular was a strong, frequently used item at a sensational price," The second ShopRite color circular appeared in the mail in March. Shoppers were alerted with newspaper, radio and television advertising. Again, it was a huge success. Smart Shoppers loved the circular specials. ShopRite storeowners felt their newfound promotion power and agreed to publish the color circulars several times a year.
Industry-wide
Reports of the success of the first ShopRite color circular soon began to reach supermarkets around the country. Within two years, supermarkets everywhere were marketing major events and holiday promotions with color circulars. By the early 1980s, supermarkets were able to use new methods of color printing to produce circulars in less than two weeks and this made it possible to distribute the weekly color circulars shoppers see today.
There are now 190 ShopRite supermarkets. Most are large, modern mega-stores, but they are still predominantly family-owned and operated. They employ more than 50,000 workers. The 240,000- square foot warehouse that was strained to the limit in 1973 because of the color circulars has grown to more than 2.5 million feet.
Today, most supermarket shoppers find their color circulars delivered with the Sunday newspaper. Some stores still send them out the mail. Circulars use the retailer's own coupons as well as manufacturer "in-ad" coupons. "Buy one -- get one free" offers have become popular circular features. Supermarkets have found it useful to show their sale circulars on their Internet Web sites. You can find the ShopRite color circular at ww.shop-rite.com. Click on "Weekly Specials."
How do you use the supermarket's color circulars to play The Great Grocery Game? Write and tell me about it. Write to me, Martin Sloane, The Supermarket Shopper, care of The Vindicator. I will publish the most interesting letters.
XSend questions and comments to Martin Sloane in care of The Vindicator. The volume of mail precludes individual replies to every letter, but Martin Sloane will respond to letters of general interest in the column.
United Feature Syndicate