Gluten-Free Stores - Wisconsin Grocers Association

Ptacek’s calls their one-day meat sale their
“Super Bowl” since they go all out to give
the store a celebratory type of atmosphere.
“On the day of the sale we have balloons
and flowers decorating the store. The floors
are waxed and we have about ten different
demos going on—the store looks great,” he
says. “It’s our way of ‘wining and dining’
our customers.”
If you aren’t using famed musical artists
like Bon Jovi or Michael Jackson to help
create a buzz at your sale, you’re missing a
marketing opportunity. “We call it our
‘Power Hour,’” says Ptacek. “We’ve found
shoppers like the upbeat rotating
background music that gives the store a
something special, party-like atmosphere.”
Ptacek says studies show about half of all
grocery shoppers would rather be
somewhere else other than shopping. “We
try to lower those figures to about 25
percent by making the overall shopping
experience enjoyable especially on the oneday
meat sale.”
Super-sized Super Bowl sale
Have you ever wondered how much
volume a one-day meat sale might generate
at your store? Kevin Mey, co-owner of
Piggly Wiggly Plymouth, offers some
perspective. The store has been running a
one-day meat sale once a year on the
Thursday before Super Bowl Sunday for
the past 13 years.
They chose Thursday because it’s not
usually as busy as weekend days and the
date before the Super Bowl, when people
gather for cooking and celebrating, is a
great time to sell meat products.
On a good sale day (when weather
cooperates), the store has done 33 times
what they typically do on a Thursday. A lot
of work goes into making it happen
starting with studying the buying and
traffic patterns, even the weather, from year
to year. They keep good records and put
everything on a spread sheet.
The weather notation for the store’s
enormous 2010 sale which resulted in the
33 times normal volume and 3,000
shoppers was this: “Partly cloudy, mid 20s,
perfect day for a sale.”
The 2011 sale was a success but was
impacted by the largest snowstorm of the
winter on February 2, the day before the
big event. Mey explains, “We had the sale
ads in the local newspaper, but it didn’t get
delivered because of the snowstorm.”
Tracking the details associated with the
yearly sale is something Mey enjoys. “It’s
fun in a way that is not unlike playing a
winning game.”
Over the years the Plymouth Piggly Wiggly
has come up with a formula for getting the
word out about the event. They put a big
ad in the local newspapers, use bag stuffers
two weeks before the sale,
and print posters. “I
usually have about 15
posters printed up from
the bag stuffers, and then
I stop by local businesses
and hand them out,”
notes Mey.
The one-day meat sale
runs 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.
“Every year we see the sale
as an opportunity to
improve the sale from the
previous year,” says Mey.
“That’s why we recently tried opening
earlier in the morning. Last year, we found
shoppers were lined up at the door at 5:30
a.m. It was one factor that resulted in last
year being a high volume sale.”
In advance of the big event, the grocery
checks with their warehouse as well as
vendors for good buys. “Then we bring
in a semi-trailer full of meat,” notes Mey.
“At the end of the day at a good sale, the
trailer is empty.
What are some of the other elements
that have helped make the event a
success?
They’ve offered good quality cuts of meat
such as rib eye, pork tenderloin beef
tenderloin, and New York strip steak cut to
customers’ specifications. “Last year we had
18 meat cutters at three cutting stations in
the store,” he says.
At the end of the day, Mey says his store’s
single-day meat sales have been great, but
the profit margin is typically low. Still, Mey
adds, “It gives us an opportunity to bring
in new shoppers who may not have been in
One-day meat sales
can be an important
way to reach people
who might not
be shopping at
your store.”
the store before. It also challenges us to
make every sale a successful venture.”
Connect with your customers’
tastes
“A successful one-day meat sale has to be
priced right in order to attract current and
new customers,” said Ron Krantz,
Executive Vice President and co-owner of
UW Provisions, Inc. He’s been with the
company since 1965, but grew up on a
farm where he remembers enjoying great
rib eye and T-bone steaks. He started
working at UW
Provisions when he was
in college on the plant
sanitation crew.
Krantz says that one-day
meat sales are more
prevalent today than they
were several years ago but
you have to carefully
define your guidelines as
to what you’re going to
sell and when. He points
out, “Whenever meat
prices are high, people
tend to go with less expensive items. That’s
especially true during a down economy so
one-day meat sales can be an important
way to reach people who might not be
shopping at your store.”
But Krantz adds, “A one-day meat sale should
feature quality meat selections that your
customers want. It can be a great way to
connect with your regular shoppers, add
new customers, and build loyalty for your
grocery.”
If you don’t know what draws people to
your meat department, or encourages them
to shop at a formidable competitor, a oneday
meat sale may lead to learning more
about the buying tastes of your customers
and what your changing consumer base
may want.
Krantz cautions, though, that you need to
offer quality meat items that appeal to your
locale and the eating habits of your area.
“Out-of-state big chains may dictate what
you can offer at a big one-day meat sale.
But people want to buy meat that they’re
used to enjoying. If you offer a sale on
brisket, which is popular for Bar-B-Qs in
16 WISCONSIN GROCER www.wisconsingrocers.com