FRANKLIN, N.J. — In a little over 12 hours, the Super Stop & Shop supermarket in this central New Jersey community went from being a minor to a major league beauty care player.
At 6 p.m. Wednesday night, Stop & Shop closed down an older unit only to unveil a new, larger store less than one mile away at 7 a.m. Thursday morning. While shoppers were wowed by extras such as a full-service florist complete with a greenhouse, the beauty care department underwent one of the largest transformations.
The older unit sported a limited, convenience beauty department with only 8 feet of Cover Girl and 4 feet of Maybelline. There was also nail care from Sally Hansen and accessories from Studio Basics. The look of the department showed that cosmetics had been an afterthought in the design.
Bright and airy, the beauty and personal care department in the new unit features a store-within-a-store concept called Relax, Renew and Revive. This department, developed in concert with Procter & Gamble, has been employed in other food stores owned by Ahold, the parent of Stop & Shop. The concept is both a fixturing and a thematic merchandising approach designed to help food chains establish a more upscale presence in beauty. For years, food store executives have struggled with trying to create a separate oasis for beauty amidst the backdrop of groceries.
Located off to the right side of the store, the nonfoods area is anchored by a large pharmacy. Next to that, shoppers can venture into natural foods or the Relax, Renew and Revive boutique.
The Relax portion of the department features health care items, including P&G’s Olay Vitamins. A huge banner overhead helps direct shoppers to merchandise to improve their health.
The next banner is Renew, which includes personal care items such as bath and skin care. Three large illuminated towers in this area yield prominence to bath and hair care. The bath fixture shows the selection, which includes Té Tao, Got2b, Aveeno and designer fragrances such as Hugo Boss. The fragrances are not locked under glass, a major departure for supermarkets. For the opening, Stop & Shop promoted Fructis shampoo at two items for $5, and Suave shampoo for 79 cents. Two lighted fixtures call notice to salon hair care including Crew, Sebastian, Redken and Bed Head.
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The third theme is Revive, which encompasses cosmetics. There is four times the footage allocated in the new store versus the old. In addition to Maybelline and Cover Girl, the store stocks Almay, Revlon and Wet ’n’ Wild. The department is rounded out with a full selection of nail care, anchored by Sally Hansen, and beauty accessories. To get shoppers to try L’Oréal, the brand was offered during the opening days at 33 percent off.
Stop & Shop operates some 350 units, mostly in the Northeast. Over the past five years, the chain has made major strides in beauty care by boosting space and incorporating eye-appealing graphics.
According to research from Information Resources Inc., supermarkets still lag behind drug and mass marketers in beauty sales. Food chains generate about 17 percent of the $2.8 billion mass beauty business (excluding Wal-Mart). Many marketers, however, have pegged the food channels as a growth target. Revlon, for example, has been rolling out Revlon Express fixtures to allow supermarkets to get into beauty without a huge real estate commitment. Physicians Formula also has earmarked food chains for new distribution.
Supermarkets have a powerful weapon when it comes to building beauty sales. Consumers frequent food stores several times a week versus only once or twice a month for drugstores or discount doors. The goal is to convert those food shoppers to beauty shoppers, as well. “Supermarkets have the traffic, they’ve just lacked the ambience until these new formats,” said Allan Mottus, industry consultant.