Melon merchandising insights from the experts

Melon merchandising insights from the experts

by Ashley Nickle, Aug 02, 2021

PAAS Sage

 

 

Highlights

  • Observations on melon merchandising from produce retail veterans Armand Lobato, Mike O'Brien and Joe Watson.
  • Melon merchandising inspiration from the Produce Artist Award Series.
  • Winning displays from the 2020 National Watermelon Retail Merchandising Contest and information on how to enter the 2021 contest.

Category quick hits

Check out the video above to enjoy some great category conversation with the industry expert panelists from our Produce Artist Award Series Spring 2021 Results webinar.

Lobato's 40-year-plus retail career has spanned the produce manager, buyer, supervisor and other roles, and O'Brien and Watson both won Produce Retailer of the Year in their tenures as produce retail executives.

Quick takeaways on the melon category

  • “When I think about watermelon displays, whole watermelon displays, it's got to be massive,” Watson said during the webinar. “Certainly store size matters, and you can only do what you can with the space you have, but if you've got the space, you need to make a statement.”
  • Bin displays are popular for watermelons in peak season, but when they sell down, people have to bend into the bin to make a purchase. Avoid this by “dummying up” bins; then you get the full look but the displays are easier to rotate and “then the customer doesn't have to stand on their head to purchase it either,” Lobato said.
  • Think about your sight lines, O'Brien suggested. If you go long instead of high with your melons (or another other seasonal favorite), you make sure that your shoppers get a nice view of the whole department and all the different items you want them to purchase.

Get some extra credit

Build a wonderful watermelon display this season? Planning one coming up? Enter the National Watermelon Retail Merchandising. Grand prize is $5,000. Check out the details and the winning displays from 2020 here.

Display inspiration

If you're looking for even more beautiful melon displays, check out this video of displays that have been submitted for our Produce Artist Award Series.

More on melons

For even more category conversation, check out this recent discussion on melon assortment, packaging, operations and more between produce retail veteran Mike Mauti and PMG editor Ashley Nickle. 









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