H-E-B, Kroger, Meijer Honored for Magazine Merchandising Excellence

ORLANDO, Fla. -- Two traditional supermarket operators snagged three of six Retail Best Practices Awards yesterday during Retail Conference 2006: The Marketing of Magazines and Books, held here by Magazine Publishers of America (MPA) and International Periodical Distributors Association (IPDA).

H-E-B Grocery Company received two awards--one for excellence in cross-merchandising, and another for innovation. In the cross-merchandising award category, H-E-B was recognized for implementing and supporting creative cross-merchandising opportunities across departments, and for developing a definitive cross-merchandising and promotion calendar.

In the innovation award category, H-E-B was recognized for its consumer-focused category management, its comprehensive and integrated overall chain plan that includes magazines and books, its use of point-of-sale data for replenishment, its heavy cross-merchandising of magazines and books, and its constant exploration of new merchandising concepts.

Kroger was honored for excellence in promotional programs--for continually looking for ways to work with publishers and wholesalers on promotional initiatives, and for having a definitive promotions calendar integrated into the chain's corporate programs.

Supercenter pioneer Meijer received an award for excellence in checkout merchandising--for aggressive coverage of all checkout opportunities for the magazine/book category, for supporting new title launches by working new entries into the product mix, and for maintaining clean, uncluttered racks.

Mega-mass merchant Target was awarded for excellence in the marketing of books--for having multiple display locations, book signings and effective signage in-store; for innovative marketing and merchandising concepts; and for appropriate segmentation.

In addition, The Hudson Group received an award for excellence in mainline merchandising--for creative mainline design and effective positioning as well as advance coordination, for effective categorization, and for effective point-of-purchase signage.