Summer School

At least they waited until after the Fourth of July this year.

Wal-Mart, Kmart, Staples, Walgreens and scores of other retailers rolled out their back-to-school merchandising last week. If you still need a new bathing suit for that August vacation, best of luck finding one now.

It's certainly not the earliest back-to-school kickoff in history. Past years have seen some chains really jump the gun and start the "season" in June -- literally while schools in some states were still in session. (The office supply channel seems particularly intent on skipping summer vacation entirely.)

The reason is obvious. If the early bird catches the worm, then the early retailer will capture more seasonal sales by getting out ahead of the competition.

Trouble is, the competition usually isn't very far behind -- if at all. Retailers generally are birds of a feather, and it's a rare case when all major players in a particular channel don't break a season simultaneously.

There's also the question of how many worms are actually there for the catching so early in the season. Do consumers really shop this far ahead in the calendar?

Not very often, apparently. According to the National Retail Federation's 2006 "Back-to-School Consumer Intentions & Actions Survey" (conducted by BigResearch), nearly 84% of consumers planned to begin their shopping less than one month before school began. More than 40% weren't going to start until one or two weeks before the first bell rang. (NRF's 2007 survey will be released later this week.)

This strategy of pushing up seasons is standard practice at retail. Last summer, several chains began merchandising holiday product in mid-September, more than two months before the official Black Friday start for holiday shopping.

Industry analyst Marshall Cohen of the NPD Group criticized the practice last week as proof that retailers are out of touch with customer needs. "Seasonal items have become season-less in the minds of consumers," he told the audience at the annual Shopper Insights in Action conference in Chicago.

Which chains will have the greatest success this year? It's impossible to tell at this point. The only thing certain is that we'll probably have to wait until September -- you know, when school starts -- to find out.

Peter Breen
Managing Director, Content
In-Store Marketing Institute

Members: More information here.

Retail Handbook: Marketing at Wal-Mart

The world's largest retailer has taken more than its share of public lumps over the past year as it sought to improve merchandising practices, clean up the store environment and better understand shoppers. While not every single initiative has been successful, taken collectively these efforts show obvious signs that Wal-Mart is getting smarter about what it does. The Institute updates its profiles of the marketing and merchandising strategies of Wal-Mart and Sam's Club. Our coverage includes more than 175 photos of 2007 merchandising activity at the chains.

Members: View the profile.

Desktop Marketing Conference: "Consumer-Centric Design for Big Box Retail Environments" by Martin Roberts, Grid2 International

Despite the common perception, big box chain stores aren't all sterile, cluttered environments filled with stacks of product. In an audio-enabled presentation from April's In-Store Marketing Summit, Grid2 president Martin Roberts takes a look at how Target, Best Buy, Borders and other leading "boxes" are improving their shopping environments with consumer-centric designs, lifestyle brands and "try-vertising" merchandising.

Members: View the presentation.

Store Checks: Jungle Jim's, Cabela's

"Retailtainment" doesn't get any more extreme than it does at independent supermarket Jungle Jim's. But in an age of retailer branding and clean store policies, the most striking aspect of the store's design is how much it relies on national brands to help create the kitschy atmosphere. Elsewhere, P-O-P Times columnist Joe Ricci takes a look at sporting goods chain Cabela's, where the outdoors almost literally comes to life in a store that not only features hunting equipment, but taxidermy versions of potential prey.

Members: View the store checks: Jungle Jim's | Cabela's

Store Checks: Summer in Cincinnati

It may be Kroger's hometown, but Cincinnati has no shortage of major retail players. The Institute visited Kroger, Meijer, Supervalu's Bigg's and other chains, and came home with more than 75 photos illustrating how stores in this town like to put on a big display.

Members: View the images here.

Welcome New Institute Members

The In-Store Marketing Institute is delighted to welcome new and renewing members to the Institute family. Below is a list of the companies that signed up recently. Welcome aboard.

• American Express
• Arc Worldwide
• BEN Marketing Group
• Broan-Nutone
• Consortium Companies Inc.
• CounterPoint
• Digital Cement
• Display Source Alliance, LLC.
• DS-IQ
• EK3 Technologies Inc.
• Expressive Arts Inc.
• Globe Electric Co.
• Hasbro
• Hawver Display
• Hunter Douglas Inc.
• Imagine! Print Solutions
• Insignia Systems Inc.
• Integrated Marketing Services
• Leggett & Platt
• Mediaedge:CIA
• National Adhesives
• Orange County Container Group
• OSL Marketing
• Osram Sylvania
• Packaging Corporation of America (PCA)
• Protool Manufacturing, LLC
• Pudik Graphics
• Red Bull North America Inc.
• Royal Canin
• Similasan Corp.
• Sunkist Growers Inc.
• Symantec Corp.
• TD&A DDB
• The Garvey Group
• Valassis
• Vestcom International Inc.
• Visy Specialties