We're right on the cusp of the time frame that Rouses Markets director of produce Rob Ybarra calls "100 Days of Summer," and that means creative merchandising opportunities galore in the produce department.
How is your store going to take advantage of the bounty of seasonal items available in this short but glorious window that is the summer months?
You know which merchandising techniques have been successful in your store in previous years, but sometimes it's helpful to see what's worked in other places across the country as well.
Even if a certain approach isn't completely doable with your fixtures or with your customer base, you'll likely find elements that you can tweak to work for your department.
Take the below presentations, for example: Displays of these sizes might be too big, depending on the volume your store does, but the concept of making a big deal out of stone fruit season can be adapted to whatever your situation is.
Another opportunity (also demonstrated in the above photo) is to call out the particular brand that your store carries. This helps build the story around the item and may also have the benefit of differentiating your stone fruit from the stone fruit of the store down the street.
One of the favorite merchandising tactics for any produce item, of course, is making a display look like it's got a ton of product when it actually doesn't have that much product.
Dummying up displays creates a powerful presentation while limiting the potential for shrink. Andrew Lucero, a merchandiser for Fresh Thyme Market whose displays you'll see below, spoke about this approach in a recent interview with PMG.
For much more insight on making stone fruit season a success for your store, check out the latest column from Brian Dey, senior merchandiser and natural stores coordinator for Four Seasons Produce. Brian was also the merchandising category winner of the Winter 2021 season of our Produce Artist Award Series.