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“Our sta assists produce managers with creative displays as well as full re-sets when it’s time.
e help is very much appreciated by retail partners, especially now, with labor so tight.”
Ste y. “First, it allows our merchandiser to help train store sta on best practices and display techniques. Second, the display- building process allows employees to express creativity and engage with shoppers. And last, we nd special displays drive consumer excitement and sales, and then again later with repeat purchases if the new or seasonal item was introduced well. Partnering with trade marketing associations and vendors to make displays for retailers has also been e ective.”
— Rick Feighery, Procacci Brothers
and advise on department topics, to helping do large-scale department sets and resets, to creating improvement plans for conditions, sales, gross margin and shrink. “Produce department sta training and show-and- tell reset events are large focus areas for our merchandisers,” says Ste y. “We o er ad-writing and marketing services custom- ized to retailers’ needs. A few retailers have relied on us as the wholesaler partner to run their produce program in a fully-integrated way.”
S. Katzman o ers a full merchan- dising and demo service to its customers. “Consumers prefer to shop in a store with vibrant, full displays,” says Katzman. “We have merchandisers who work with produce managers to do in-store setups while teaching less experienced managers how to maintain that setup after we leave. ey discuss color contrast, seasonality, display cases, tempera- tures, variety and all the other intricacies that go into the perfect produce display.”
General Produce’s experienced merchan- dising sta works in key accounts (where the company is 100 percent the sole supplier). “In most of these accounts, our team is respon- sible for setting ad tables, building contest displays and executing a marketing plan for the store,” says Luka. “In other accounts, we will direct merchandisers for department resets or establishing new product lines. We can also coordinate, for example, with a salad vendor for schematics, sets and POS mate- rials to launch products and lift sales.”
Procacci has eight merchandisers on the road all the time. “ ey are all knowledge- able associates working as liaisons between our buying o ce and stores,” says Feighery. “ ey are our eyes and ears everyday, helping to ensure stores are operating and executing strategies implemented by our customers. Our sta assists produce managers with creative displays as well as full re-sets when it’s time.
“ e help is very much appreciated by retail partners, especially now, with labor so tight. Stores may have people on sta but use our merchandisers to supplement that sta . is is especially true in the summer when
employees take vacations.”
Doing something special in merchan-
dising has three impacts, according to
PRODUCE BUSINESS / OCTOBER 2018 / 81