KITCHENWARE NEWS - Oser Communications Group

DISPLAYS (cont. from page 1)
The specialty kitchenware store also offers
customers food, textiles, dinnerware and
glassware, and hosts cooking courses,
private parties and events in its 12-person
Viking Demonstration Kitchen.
Aside from ordering many CDU’s for
food items and gadgets, Hartwick said she
also houses permanent displays in-store.
“Most of my gondolas/end caps and other
shelving units are permanent displays,” she
said. “We do have display units such as
large/small cubes, tables and butcher block
islands that we move around throughout
the store.”
Televisions can also entice customers to
check out the products. “We have
televisions located throughout the store
to assist us in selling merchandise,”
Hartwick said. In her store, Hartwick
uses a product DVD for companies such
as Microplane, Kyocera Cutlery, Shun
Cutlery, Aeropress, PEK Preservino, Viking
Stand Mixers, Fresh Wave Room
Deodorizers, KitchenAid Stand Mixers,
Jura Capresso and more.
Kyocera Everything
Peelers, Zyliss gadets,
OXO angled mini
measure, Progressive Sili
Basting Brush–Bottle
Topper, Fire &
Flavor–Turkey Brining
Mix (which is a holiday
item) and Grandmas Spot
Remover among others.
Although Hartwick
sees disposable product
CDU’s as the current,
“hot” trend for displays,
“these items, for me, are just a part of
my overall merchandising plan—I would
never look at getting rid of my other
displays,” she said.
Housing merchandising displays are
important for both the retailer and the
customer, Hartwick said. “I believe that
what draws a customer is color, a DVD
running and clean/concise merchandising,”
she said. “If they (customers) are interested
they can easily pick up the items and put
them in their basket…”
(POP) displays—are seen on the market,
but “definitely in the last five years there’s
been an increase in attention to design of
disposable displays, a real focus on use and
classical appeal. Design has become more
and more a part of that,” she said.
Based in Russellville, Ark., Microplane just
last year added POP displays to its
merchandising display lineup in order to
focus on the use and features of products.
Earlier this year, at the International
Home + Housewares Show in Chicago,
Microplane unveiled five POP displays for
its Premium Classic Zester/Grater,
Premium Classic Medium Ribbon Grater,
Premium Classic Spice Grater, and
Ultimate Citrus Tool. The table-size,
portable displays have bright and bold
graphics with food images highlighting
each tools function. The displays include
the Ultimate Citrus Tool POP, Spice
POP, Chocolate POP, Cheese POP and
Citrus POP.
“We heard from retailers that want a
small amount of products to display,”
Moore said regarding why Microplane
introduced the new displays. “All (POP
displays) are focused on specific uses for
individual products.
Microplane’s POP Displays.
Linda Arnesen, president of Linden
Sweden, Inc., said, “Late last year, we came
out with three new displays, one being our
small tulip spice grinder. It’s made out of
cardboard and tiered, square with a header
card; the header card is four-color and
shows the product in use. It’s key in retail
because it shows the consumer how to use
the product.”
Like Microplane’s Moore, Arnesen agrees
that displays showing the product, its
function, how to use it attract not only
retailers, but consumers alike.
“This display (tulip) shows the pretty gift
box of the spice grinder, and shows the
grinder nicely,” Arnesen said, “so it reveals
the product very well to the consumer at a
glance. And that’s key, its quickly
identifying what the product is and what
it will do for them and how to use it easily.”
A retailer herself for more than 20 years,
Arnesen said having merchandising
displays that showcase the product
effectively is important for the retailer
“because they’re busy people,” she said. “It’s
easier for them (retailers) if you get a
CDU that sells the product rather than
them standing next to it explaining how
to use the product.”
Hartwick’s, based in Eugene, Ore., offers an assortment of specialty kitchenware items, cooking
classes, events and more.
“Before we’d have products that are average
sellers,” Moore added, “but with the POP
displays, it improves the sale of products
in the display.”
Arnesen added that merchandising
displays should be “eye-catching, attractive
and informative.”
“If the company has a DVD, we try and
highlight the product for a two- to fourweek
period at one of our television
displays. These displays help us immensely,
because it is as if we have another
salesperson on the floor,” Hartwick added.
With an array of CDU’s throughout
the store, Hartwick said her “top sellers”
for CDU’s include Chef'n Palm Peelers,
In addition to merchandising displays
making a store organized for customers to
shop, Hartwick added, they also “keep
stores exciting for customers,” she said.
“It’s all about catching their attention.”
Melissa Moore, Microplane kitchen
marketing and public relations coordinator,
said both permanent and disposable
displays—CDU’s or point of purchase
Aside from Microplane’s POP displays
showcasing a product’s function and
features, the displays also keep product
lines in one location. “For our product line,
it’s ideal to have the entire product line
available in one location,” Moore said. “It’s
building our brand and it also helps retailers
because it allows them to monitor the
inventory better and display the product.
“It gives us a better placement within the
stores,” Moore added, and “that’s always the
goal, but it’s also an aid to have the retailers
sell the products.”
Moore said that new “eye-catching and
appealing” pizza cutter and peeler displays
will be available this month.
Linden Sweden’s Tulip Spice Grinders.
Linden Sweden, an Edina, Minn.-based
kitchenware company, provides retailers
with disposable, counter and shelf displays.
Hartwick’s uses television displays to play
product DVD's throughout the store to
attract customers.
Kitchenware News & Housewares Review • JUNE 2009 | 17