May 17, 2012
Volume 20, Issue 20
Father's Day
President Calvin Coolidge, in 1924, supported the idea of a national Father’s Day. Then in 1966, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed a Presidential Proclamation declaring the 3rd Sunday of June as Father’s Day. President Richard Nixon signed the law, which finally made it permanent in 1972. Roses are the Father’s Day flowers: red to be worn for a living father and white if the father has passed on.
William Shakespeare said, “It is a wise father that knows his own child.” Ernest Hemingway said “To be a successful father…there’s one absolute rule: when you have a kid, don’t look at it for the first two years.” Sigmund Freud said “I cannot think of any need in childhood as strong as the need for a father’s protection.” Gabriel Garcia Marquez said “A man knows when he is growing old because he begins to look like his father.” And finally Bill Cosby said “If the new American father feels bewildered and even defeated, let him take comfort from the fact that whatever he does in any fathering situation has a fifty percent chance of being right.”
This year Father’s Day is June 17th, and as tradition indicates, this holiday has a very high percentage of cookouts and picnics. This is the time to feature decorations, signs and products just for DAD. Right now you need to hang up signs and banners reminding your customers Father’s Day is June 17th, and you need to encourage your shoppers to buy Dad something special. For the big meal celebration, you can suggest fresh corn on the cob and baked potatoes for the grill. You can suggest a spectacular fruit salad with all the different varieties of fruit you can offer for sale. You need to suggest items that your customers can have for the big days gathering around the table to honor DAD.
FLORAL – Since roses are the official Father’s Day flowers, some Dad’s might appreciate a dozen of fresh roses, a Rose Bush or Mini Roses, or a fresh bouquet of roses, bedding plants, cactus or cactus gardens, a trinket, shrubs or even a rose boutonniere. Even though Father’s Day is not a huge holiday for floral, the potential is there on selected items. You never know, Mom just might want to make the table look great just for the special occasion, so keeping your floral department sharp can really create impulse sales. You need to concentrate on floral every day, one day at a time, being consistent with quality and selection, not just from holiday to holiday.
THE DEPARTMENT – Grill outs and picnics are the center of attention, so you need to highlight those types of items. Of course corn, red potatoes for that special potato salad and baking potatoes are on that list, but how about items for shish kabobs like cherry tomatoes, onions, red bell peppers or jalapeno peppers, mushrooms, pineapple, pork or chicken. I’m sure you’ll have a big display of Vidalia onions. Hang a sign on it that says “JUST for DAD”. How about a fresh fruit kabob, items like pineapple, cantaloupe, honeydew, watermelon, strawberries, kiwi, mango or papaya. You can suggest a fruit pizza also. Don’t forget strawberries; stems, 1#, 2# and 4# berries will sell, so will blackberries, raspberries and blueberries. You must have the full category to be successful. This would be a good week for the deli to tie in fresh strawberry pie on your strawberry display, but make sure they write down all the berries they take! Summer fruit should be in full swing. You must have big beautiful displays on all stone fruit, grapes, cherries, cantaloupe, honeydew and watermelon. Don’t forget about apricots and pluots because some people do. Don’t forget relish tray items, party sticks and convenience items have real sales potential too and make sure you include relish trays, fruit trays, veggie trays and dips. The entire value-added case will really sell well. Silent demos throughout the department will insure a successful sales week.
Because of the extra hours’ worth of day light, don’t forget your customers will be shopping later so to capture the impulse sales, your department must look its best from 10am till 9pm. Don’t get caught short on product or labor. Be consistent in variety, conditions, freshness and product selection!
GOOD SELLING!!
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