NARMS Welcomes Walgreen Co.

NARMS welcomes new retailer member Walgreen Co. Rachel Bishop is the Vice President Merchandising Strategy. Walgreens provides the most convenient access to consumer goods and services and cost-effective pharmacy, health and wellness services in America through its retail drugstores, Walgreens Health Services division and Walgreens Health and Wellness division.

Build a Better Workforce with NARMScertifyU

Ever wonder how you could train your entire at-retail merchandising and marketing field force in industry standards without having to make a huge expenditure in time and money? The answer has been here since March 2, 2010 when NARMScertifyU went live. NARMScertifyU is the official NARMS online learning center that is already built and waiting for increased use. Since its launch date, the service has been accessed by thousands of reps who want to improve their skill sets, retail knowledge and marketability to NARMS members. Even though the initial response has been good, imagine an expanded labor pool in which the majority of reps earn certificates of completion.

By promoting and pushing enrollment in NARMScertifyU out to your field reps, you will enhance your reps skill set, improve workforce quality and productivity, reduce workforce turnover and promote NARMS industry standards. By looking for and hiring reps that carry a NARMScertifyU certificate you will be hiring individuals with improved skill sets, increase job satisfaction and broader retail knowledge. These marketing reps obtain higher visibility within www.narms.com for job postings so great people will be easy to find.

Here is the way it works. Online courses can be accessed by your reps anywhere and anytime by registering at www.NARMScertifyU.com. There are currently eight different courses available including Retail Visit Excellence, Merchandising Standards, Demonstrations, Event Marketing, Fixture Installation, Mystery Shopping, Train the Trainer, Team Lead Skills. The rep simply selects and completes the course to earn a certificate of completion. Their NARMS Recruiter profile is automatically updated with the increased level of knowledge. So far the Retail Visit Excellence course has been the most popular with 32% of the traffic followed by the Train the Trainer course at 30%.

The responsibility to build a better workforce is on all of us. At only $15 per course, NARMScertifyU is a quick, easy and inexpensive option for both you and your field reps. Please pass along and promote the availability of this tremendous resource to your field personnel today.

NARMS Welcomes Wonder Marketing, Inc.

NARMS Welcomes new member Wonder Marketing, Inc. D. Darren Zuzow is CEO of the company that manufactures of a variety of high quality retail products. Their cleaning line has been awarded the Queen of Cleans seal of approval for being the best products available. NARMS 5/26/10

SKU Rationalization and At-Retail Support

An article appeared in Supermarket News last week reporting on an FMI show workshop on shopper-centric assortment. At the workshop, Jim Hertel of Willard Bishop said that the time was right for supermarket operators to adopt SKU rationalization to condense SKU count and increase efficiency. Hertel said that evidence exists that too much variety is a bad thing. Willard Bishop conducted a study of 25 CPG companies who overwhelmingly said that SKU rationalization is the right thing to do.

The argument for rationalization says that trimming selection down to just top sellers provides more room for power brands to stay on the shelf. This increased ability to avoid out-of-stocks maximizes exposure to the consumer, increases productivity and reduces costs.

As providers of at-retail merchandising and marketing services, the concept of SKU rationalization is important to NARMS members. There is the threat that less brands in major supermarket outlets will mean less customers for us. But wide spread adoption of the practice could bring big opportunities. When one door closes, another seems to opens up.

SKU rationalization, like many other retail concepts and initiatives, will only be successful if it is executed at the store level in a timely and efficient manner. Our members bring decades of category merchandising and reset experience to turn a process that could be a nightmare into a pleasant dream. Effective conversions will bring the expected benefits of tightening up selection sooner rather than later and allow the operator to keep their eye on the day-to-day ball.

And it isn’t just the major brands that benefit from partnership with our members. Rationalization is going to be based on case and unit movement. What better way to maximize your sales and legitimize your presence on the shelf than by making sure that you are in-stock, your new items get cut-in quickly, POP is displayed and sampling programs are flawlessly executed.

For major brands figuring out ways to move into new space, or second tier brands fighting for their existence, the evaluation period seems to be upon us. The bottom line is that NARMS members can help you rationalize your SKUs.

May 21, 2010 IRI / Morning NewsBeat

Below is the list of articles you will find for the week ending 5/21/10 edition of Retail Industry News.

- Publix Takes Proactive Approach To Sustainable Seafood
- Sansolo Speaks: “Man Bites Dog…Again”
- Price Chopper Launches Diabetes Management Program
- Spartan Sees Growth Potential
- FreshDirect Expands Further Into Connecticut
- Wakefern Honored As “Exceptional Employer”
- Issues Continue To Weigh On Consumer Confidence
- Proposed Soda Tax In New York May Get New Look
- FastNewsBeat
- The MNB Wal-Mart Watch

Click here to read Retail Industry News

NARMS Welcomes InstalledByDeluxe.com

NARMS Welcomes new member InstalledByDeluxe.com. Mike Franks is Director of the merchandising service organization. The company assembles large cardboard standees in local theaters around the country, using local independent contractors. NARMS 5/24/10

NARMS Welcomes Reese Group, Inc.

NARMS Welcomes the Memphis office of IFBA member Reese Group, Inc. James Buynar is General/Sales Manager. The company is comprised of six divisions: Reese Brokerage, Reese Military, Reese Dollar/Discount, Reese Convenience, Retail Merchandising Solutions, and Reese Drug/Alternative.

Webinar to Offer Expert Career Advice

Are you like so many professionals who are totally frustrated with the poor results from using internet job boards? That is because you do not know how to access the hidden job market. It is so much more than just networking. In our next NARMS Webinar, career expert Mary Elizabeth Bradford will present -How to Land More Interviews, Secure Bigger Salaries and Take Control of Your Job Search. The session will take place on Tuesday, May 25 at 1:00 PM CDT. The NARMS Webinar series, part of the NARMS-U educational platform, is sponsored by Natural Insight and powered through the technology of ReadyTalk.

In the hour-long session, Bradford will help you discover how to: connect directly with hiring managers-and avoid HR and other gatekeepers, change industries even when you do not have the right experience, identify your best target market, find really good job opportunities that are not advertised and deal with potential barriers (age, job history, qualifications) to getting your ideal job.

Bradford is one of a handful of coaches worldwide who has walked step-by-step with hundreds and hundreds of professionals through their entire job search and she knows intimately what really works. She helps her clients land better jobs, change careers and secure bigger salaries through showing them how to market themselves differently. You can learn more about Bradford by visiting www.MaryElizabethBradford.com.

The session is complimentary to NARMS members as a membership service but is also made available to other interested persons at a non-member rate of $99.95. We encourage you to share this invitation with other co-workers and anyone else who might gain value from this information-sharing opportunity. Register by clicking here.

NARMS Welcomes Roundy’s Supermarkets, Inc.

NARMS Welcomes Roundy’s Supermarkets, Inc. Joseph Wood is Vice President Marketing for the retailer. Headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Roundy’s Supermarkets, Inc. owns and operates 154 retail grocery stores in Wisconsin and Minnesota under the Pick n Save, Copps Food Center, and Rainbow Foods banners.

NARMS Conference Goes West in 2011

Today finds the NARMS staff in Chicago for the 7th Annual IFBA Top to Top Conference, sharing time with the members of our independent food broker division and their customers. It was only just a month ago that we were in Tampa for the 15th Annual NARMS Spring Conference. While March and April represent a busy time for us, the conference season never really ends. We are already hard at work making preparations for summer Divisional and Board of Directors meetings and for the 16th Annual NARMS Spring Conference and Exposition to be held in Monterey, California on April 9-12, 2011.

We are excited to take the conference to the West Coast to the marvelous Portola Plaza Hotel on Monterey Bay. By visiting www.narms.com, you will see that we have already set up a conference center that will increasingly host information on the conference registration, agenda, hotel and travel arrangements, sponsorship opportunities and exhibitor opportunities. With that said, there are two things that we would like you to do. The first is marking your calendar for April 9-12, 2011. The second is to check back to the conference center often and to stay tuned to all of our communication tools for updates and announcements.

The NARMS Spring Conference is becoming much more than a one time, one-off event. Each year, our agenda has turned into a valuable resource library that has a life of its own. This agenda is a rallying point and feeds all of our programs, events and services throughout the calendar year. We highly encourage you to revisit the 2010 conference center and agenda. Many of the sessions and workshops include attached sound files, presentation materials and feature stories for your continued reference.

The 2010 conference season has been a truly special time as we are seeing renewed energy and enthusiasm for improved business conditions. It is our pledge to stay in close contact and continue to provide maximum value to our members as we march toward Monterey in 2011.