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REGIONAL DSN REPORT--Northeastern regional discount chains are attempting to differentiate their RTA furniture department from the national discounters by carrying a more upscale, stylish product mix.
Recent merchandise expansions in a Long Island, N.Y. Caldor store include endcaps of sleep sofas and $129 futons. All items, ranging from CD storage racks to at least six varieties of entertainment units, are set diagonally, one piece behind the other, with fairly decent precision. There is a marked absence of shoulder-to-shoulder bookcase walls that characterized discount store RTA departments a few years ago.
Chairs, 36-in. diameter tables, rockers and stools had a separate run at this Caldor unit. As seen in other stores, the merchandise reaches the consumers' eye level, while flat boxes are stacked underneath. Artificial plants surround the mission-chair selection of the back wall.
"Caldor has done it's homework," said Kurt Gelke, vp marketing and strategic planning for Bush Industries, Jamestown, N.Y., a leading furniture supplier to the mass market. "They are the most progressive discount RTA seller in their market. They know if they don't meet the needs of the urban Northeast [market], customers will go elsewhere."
Another leading mass vendor, Pilot, is impressed with Caldor's marketing and product mix strategies. "Caldor tries to stay ahead of everyone in RTA. They are well-informed in market research, circular driven, and what they advertise, they sell," said Bob Schneider, vp national sales for the Edison, N.J. company.
As an example of Caldor's progressive furniture assortment, the discounter carries the Visions line, one of...