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VALENTINE'S CANDY SEEN AS MIXED BAG

As candy merchandisers begin counting down to Feb. 14, they could be in the midst of a love/hate relationship with Valentine's Day.Supermarket candy sales for the Valentine's season rose last year, according to Information Resources Inc., Chicago. For the four weeks ended Feb. 27, 1994, sales of Valentine's Day candy totaled $46.2 million -- up 8.6%, according to IRI. In terms of pounds, sales for

As candy merchandisers begin counting down to Feb. 14, they could be in the midst of a love/hate relationship with Valentine's Day.

Supermarket candy sales for the Valentine's season rose last year, according to Information Resources Inc., Chicago. For the four weeks ended Feb. 27, 1994, sales of Valentine's Day candy totaled $46.2 million -- up 8.6%, according to IRI. In terms of pounds, sales for the four-week season were 13.8 million, up 7.4% over 1993.

But in spot checks with retailers across the country, all is not necessarily rosy. Some retailers were positive, expecting sales increases this season and planning fresh twists to keep the relationship new. Others sounded more like jilted lovers.

Larry Smith, candy buyer for Super S Foods, based in San Antonio, said his company would go full-speed ahead with Valentine's Day candy. "We're going to concentrate on real fancy, higher-end products," Smith said. "We're going to try to capture some of the upper-end business on those that's been going to other places."

Tom Hughes, director of advertising for Clemens Markets, based in Kulpsville, Pa., said his candy affair has weakened to the point that "by itself, candy will not be the key to merchandising." Clemens Markets' strategy was echoed by some other operators as well, who said they are lessening the emphasis on candy in favor of flowers, cards and baked goods.

The retailers also said that while Valentine's is still an important holiday for supermarkets, the market is gradually changing. A simple heart-shaped box of chocolates just doesn't say "I love you" quite the way it used to. They said for those who are serious about Valentine's Day, more dramatic gestures are needed.

Here are some highlights from supermarket executives' views on the coming Valentine's Day season:

Bill Vitulli VP, government relations A&P Montvale, N.J.

On Valentine's Day, the traditional thing is either flowers, cards or candy. It does rate right up there as one of the top candy weeks. We have a lot of seasonal things, so rather than changing shelf alignment, we will have self-contained displays around the store. We supplement shelf space with these dump displays, self-contained displays and island displays, because they've become such a big item.

We do advertise Valentine's Day, but mostly flowers. Candy's not really a competitive item, but if we have boxed candy items, we will advertise them. We do have some flier items, but those vary from year to year. We start displaying about two weeks before Valentine's. There are signs. Every holiday, you have to let people feel traditionally that this is a great American holiday. We find, with all the trouble in the world, that people more and more support these traditional holidays. It becomes more and more a family festive occasion. Valentine's Day is not just lovers, but a family holiday as well.

We put emphasis on holidays. We have to make shopping interesting. People shop week in and week out, and our message to the store managers is "Change it around. Have things on display that are going to attract the customer." We don't want the shopping experience to be a boring, stereotypical thing.

Larry Smith candy buyer Super S Foods San Antonio

We're going to gear up a little bit for Valentine's Day. This year, we're going to lean a little more toward pricey boxed chocolates. We're going to try to capture some of the upper-end business on those that's been going to other places. In a nutshell, that's what we're going to do. In past years, we've primarily concentrated on smaller, retail packages and typical Valentine loose candies. We're going to concentrate on real fancy, higher-end products. We've been testing some Russell Stover and some Whitman's, et cetera. We're going to spread it out this year. We're not going to give up the loose candy, we just want to add to it.

We'll definitely improve sales this year. So far, every place we've tried this we've had an increase, and we tested this in a couple of stores last year, so it should work out this year. We're going to do our displays about a month ahead. We're going to have two different displays, one for the upper-end candy and then one for the lower. We'll try to concentrate on two different customers. They'll be in close proximity to each other. We try to tie candy in with balloons and flowers every year, so we'll be doing some of that. Just this year we've started doing some advertising on each holiday. We're running page ads on candy and tying in cross-merchandising. It seems to be working well. We try to buy a little conservatively to avoid overage. We like to get it cleaned up. We know we'll have a little bit, but customers will have something up until Valentine's Day. We have that built into our plan.

Mike Peace grocery buyer Brookshire Grocery Co. Tyler, Texas

We expect sales to be about the same this year as they were last year.

We will merchandise the candy with off-shelf displays. We will also cross-merchandise with plants and cards.

We will carry a mixture of special versions of our everyday mix, and strictly seasonal items. We will also add more novelty items, which are a growing segment.

We will offer a larger variety of items, with competitive pricing to combat the mass merchants, drug chains and other outlets.

Frances Ezzard director, deli and bakery Harvey's Supermarkets Nashville, Ga.

We have one store where we do make our own candy. Our sales are going to be higher this year, because our scratch department is going to ship candy to all our other departments that are not making candy. We're very optimistic. We make chocolate, divinities, all varieties. We'll just be doing commercial regular candy for this year.

We do a lot of cross-merchandising. For Valentine's, we'll tie in all our candy and cookies and floral and everything into one big lobby display. We did it last year in one store, and this year we're going to carry it through to all the stores. It'll be as big as the lobby will allow. Based on this display we did last year, our sales were up 14% from the year before. So, we'll get real aggressive. We expect Valentine's to be real good for us.

Tom Hughes director of advertising Clemens Markets Kulpsville, Pa.

In general, we expect sales to be a little higher this year. That's tied into our full marketing campaign, not just Valentine's Day, but we anticipate being a little bit stronger as we move into that spring quarter.

We do a fair amount of cross-merchandising through the store. Candy is not the big ticket for supermarkets per se, and we don't quite understand the total logic behind that. The market's basically changing. A box of candy just doesn't mean what it used to. Flowers are still very big -- our floral department gets a good deal with roses. But candy's not a big draw by itself.

By itself, candy will not be the key to merchandising. We will bring in a seasonal variety of what we normally carry. We haven't discussed promotions yet for Valentine's Day. We've just finished nailing down the fall and holiday quarter, and we haven't devoted a full amount of time to the spring quarter yet.

Mimi Peck grocery buyer Copps Corp. Stevens Point, Wis.

Right now I think Valentine's Day is the lowest holiday, in terms of dollars. From what I see, sales might be lower this year, only because we used to do a big business with Brach's, and they've eliminated a lot of their line. They've stuck to core items and maybe we won't see those extra dollars picked up by something different. M&M/Mars doesn't have a lot of lineup, but what they have is good.

It's hard to tell with Valentine's Day. It's such a short buying time it's really hard to tell what it's going to do. I won't carry as many candy boxed-hearts. I think I will probably be carrying the pound box of candy, maybe with a Valentine overwrap, so it's not strictly seasonal and the purchase can be made any time of the year.

I don't have a specific plan yet for this Valentine's Day. What I'd like to do if I could is cross-merchandise in our floral department. We've tried that before and it's been successful.

The toughest challenge will be trying to get the consumer to come to the grocery store to buy the candy rather than at a mass merchandiser, which easily has a much larger display.