New frame merchandising systems enhance dept. profits, appearance - picture frame displays at discount stores

New Frame Merchandising Systems Enhance Dept. Profits, Appearance

After two years, the use of acrylic brackets to merchandise picture frames--instead of just slapping them on the shelves--has become standard in the industry.

And the new system is producing results.

Take for example, the letter that Bill Bennett, divisional merchandise manager, housewares, Venture, wrote to Intercraft, its vendor.

"The impact of the HIM [High Impact Merchandising] program at Venture Stores has yielded significant positive results to both sales and bottom line," Bennett noted last year.

"After reviewing the program, which has been in place almost one year, our frame sales have increased 30 percent," Bennett wrote, "profit margins have increased 5 percent and turnover has escalated to 6.0 from 4.8 the prior year." Bennett said the results were even more impressive because Venture put on five fewer promotions than during the previous year.

In addition, "the store level presentation has been greatly enhanced utilizing the new fixture. Ease of store load maintenance and reduction in damages based on this fixture must also be included in the program's evaluation."

Intercraft, Taylor, Texas, pioneered in 1987 the acrylic bracket, which it calls the Ultimizer. Last month, Intercraft received a patent on its Ultimizer based on a specific feature, a rigid pocket at the front that keeps one of each frame on display facing to the front, said Scott Slater, vice president, marketing.

Intercraft lawyers are looking into possible patent infringement on the part of competitors, Slater said.

Intercraft's HIM system increases the facings for a given run of gondola space by 30 percent, Slater said.

Such brackets move frames away from the gondola wall and give the appearance of a full inventory, even if only one or two of a particular style remain in stock. Such brackets, which all major vendors are using, help keep the department organized, as well as permitting inventory reductions. Depending on the vendors, they are designed either to be pegboarded or mounted on slot walls.

Decorel and National also have developed their own types of acrylic brackets to achieve the same purpose, and one Northeast discounter that is using both vendors because of its size has gone chainwide with acrylic brackets.

Requesting to remain nameless, the divisional merchandise manager for the category commented that the brackets really do reduce inventory requirements.

"With just one or two pieces, you can have the effect of full, in-stock inventory," the dmm said. "The brackets bring frames out from the wall."

"Acrylic brackets also reduce the time required to keep the department organized," the dmm said.

The chain offers a minimum of 16 linear feet of picture frames and 24 feet and 32 feet, if floor space is available. "It's worth our while to devote extra space," the dmm said.

Frame sales are "doing well," the dmm explained, while refusing to disclose specific figures.

In a new generation of its Ultimizer, Intercraft is testing a type of bracket that will attach to existing gondolas without the expense of converting to either pegboards or costly slot walls, Slater said.

The advantages are ease of installation and modest cost (which either the vendor or retailer bears, depending on the agreement negotiated, Slater said). About 5,000 stores have been converted to the HIM system, Slater said, and Intercraft is aiming for 10,000 by the end of the year.

The majority of discounters are either testing HIM or using it chainwide, such as Venture, Slater said.

Within the past 45 days, a major chain based in the Southeast has converted about 80 percent of its stores to Intercraft's HIM system, said the category buyer.

Requesting anonymity, the buyer said, "we expect sales increases in the double digits" from the new system.

The system means "better use of space," the buyer said.

The clear acrylic brackets result in a "customer friendly" presentation, he said. "It's easier for customers to select from the brackets than from shelves."

The buyer said Intercraft's projection of $335 in sales per square foot for its new system "seems a bit high" for his chain.

"But I wouldn't be shocked if it came in very high," the buyer said, "much higher than we were getting before."

Better inventory control was another selling point, the buyer said. "You can see better what you have."

The chain also expects to see improved ease of maintenance, the buyer said.

All vendors are offering the same type of merchandising with acrylic brackets, although all still do conventional shelving merchandising, said Randy Kravitz, director of marketing for Acme Frame Products, Chicago, a division of American Greetings.

Acme's acrylic bracket features a clip that keeps the frames pushed to the front, rather than a rigid, front-facing pocket, Kravitz explained.

Brackets "placed order within the chaos of a long, frame department," he said.

"We've seen increases in every store that has installed the new merchandising system," Kravitz said. "We've been able to expand existing departments because retailers found that frames are a hot category."

Acme, which claims to be No. 2 after Intercraft in sales in a $500 million (wholesale shipments) segment, also touts its own merchandising wrinkle, using frame face paper to display point of purchase information, such as frame size and "sell copy," in addition to photos, he said.

Cross-Merchandising

Capitalizing on its American Greetings connections, Acme is cross-merchandising a line of frames called Couples, Kravitz said. The Couples frame line will use the same art that American Greetings uses on its new line of cards pitched at various stages of romance from puppy love to senior love.

Decorel uses its acrylic brackets as the sole frame supplier for Wal-Mart's new vendor store in Janesville, Wis., said Steven Scheyer, vp, sales and marketing.

In another recent development, the K mart in Warren, Mich., has begun testing a Frame Shoppe featuring Decorel products, Scheyer said. Such a store-within-a-store carries about 200 sku's, he said, or about double the normal inventory.

Intercraft has more than 90 Frame Shoppes in K marts. The Frame Shoppes are able to maintain per square foot sales volume of $335, Slater said. "We haven't reached the saturation point yet."

In another K mart development, Magee, Fort Worth, Texas, has been cross-merchandising film processing under K mart's Dusty Lenscap program. Magee frames carry a coupon worth $1 off on film processing and vice versa, said president Frank Bigger.

Magee, a division of Tandycrafts, was named a Wal-Mart vendor of the year in the picture frame category in 1988, Bigger said.

Frame sales are growing by 20 percent a year, estimates Decorel's Scheyer. Slater confirmed double digit sales gains but declined to disclose a specific figure.

As for trends in frame styles, the 80/20 rule still prevails, Slater said.

About 80 percent of frame sales are of basic document, wall and photo styles, Slater said, while the other 20 percent represent a range of fashion-oriented styles that shift in and out of vogue.

Hot styles at Intercraft now are floral and licensed products such as Victoriana and Auntie Em from Hallmark, Slater said. The country look and Southwest Indian motifs remain strong, he said.

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