Quality Builds Endurance
In this issue’s cover story on Weis Markets, based in Sunbury, PA, we discuss the key factors that have enabled the company to achieve a rare milestone in retailing: 100 years of continuous operation which it will celebrate in May 2012.
The cornerstone of this regional retailer’s longevity and success is its ongoing commitment to the quality of its store brand products.
Indeed, Weis holds the distinction of being one of the few retailers in the country that incorporates “Quality” into the Weis brand name.
As Kurt Schertle, senior vice president, sales and marketing, points out in our Weis Cover Story: “Weis Quality has become part of our everyday vernacular in our company when we refer to our private brand products. Even in our shorthand notes to one another we refer to our private brand as WQ. It has become engrained in our company culture.”
With quality serving as the overarching guiding star in the Weis store brand program, there are several other important pillars on which the retailer has built its success. They include:
Regional Pulse
- Understanding and responding to regional taste preferences and social customs -- Indeed, since tailgating is an important social activity during the football season in its trading area, the retailer sets up in each store special Tailgate Party private brand product displays. In addition during the season, it runs a special Tailgating Recipe Contest on facebook that promotes its private brand products. The retailer also produces a limited-edition Weis Quality Quarterback Crunch ice cream.
Private Brand Ambassadors
- Weis understands that store associates are key contact points with customers at point of purchase. To this end, the retailer has implemented a formal Private Brand Ambassador Program in which it recruits and trains one associate – typically the assistant store manager – to be responsible for the implementation of new private brand programs at the store level.
Store Brand Leadership Awards
- We are now seeking nominations for our 2012 Store Brand Leadership Awards program. Inaugurated in 1997, our Store Brand Awards program that includes our Retailer of the Year Award, is now in its 16th year. Its mission is to honor North American and International Retailers for their noteworthy contributions to the growth of store brands in the retail marketplace.
We invite our readers to participate in this special awards program by nominating a retail operator in each of the following categories that is setting new standards of excellence for all of us to pursue: • Supermarket • Chain Drug Store • Discount Store • Canadian Retailer • International Retailer.
The 2012 Store Brand Retailer of the Year award recipient will be selected from one of the five Store Brand Leadership Award winners based on the retail categories listed above.
The 2012 Nominating Ballot and Selection Criteria can be found on page 192 in this issue.
