By Anna Krejci
News-Chronicle
Stores are dreaming up new ways to attract customers in 2004.
Paul Fassbender, owner of the University Avenue Market SuperValu store, said he expects competition among grocers to grow, especially because general retail stores, such as Sears and Wal-Mart, are making moves to sell grocery store items with the traditional lawn mowers and televisions.
While the first new Sears Grand stores are popping up in states like Utah, Nevada, California and Texas, the closest one to Wisconsin will open next month in Gurney, Ill., according to Sears spokeswoman Cheryl Ann Lambert.
"It's kind of a growth vehicle for us," she said.
The new products offered at the Sears Grand stores will make up 20 percent of the store stock. Food products sold mostly will be convenience-store-type items, such as milk, eggs and frozen pizzas.
Although Lambert said there are no immediate plans to open a Sears Grand store in Green Bay, the Green Bay Sears store will undergo remodeling scheduled to be complete in June. The changes are aimed toward making stores more customer-friendly by widening aisles.
The expanded West Side Wal-Mart and the new super store in De Pere carry full grocery stores side by side with the department store, luring shoppers with one-stop convenience.
To set his supermarket on a competitive track to compete with the Wal-Marts and other rivals, Fassbender said he is planning to remodel his storefront and purchase new frozen food cases.
"Now is the time to remodel, upgrade and get up to date in the stores because they just passed a tax break for it," he said. The break allows him to depreciate his capital upgrades in one year as opposed to doing it over five to seven years, he said.
He plans to expand the variety of Asian and Hispanic foods the store carries in response to the large ethnic populations in his area.
A new Frito-Lay product he is carrying, called Fabritones, are a chili- and lime-flavored puffed-wheat snack.
"All of these companies are jumping on this," he said.
Fassbender has created a Kosher food section, and expects to expand into low-carb products, organic foods and dollar-store items.
"You have to find new ways to entice people to come into your store," he said.
The changes aren't limited to the grocery business. The average consumer that walks into the new Bay West True Value in Suamico seems to be doing small things to give his home a new look or putting the finishing touches on a new home.
The construction of new homes in the area impacts the store, said owner Al Stachura. Paint sales have incresed by 25 percent from January 2003 to January 2004, Stachura said. While January and February are typically bad months for hardware stores, new, low-odor paints may be one factor increasing paint sales, he said.
"People are coming in and doing a lot of painting projects," Stachura said.
Sales on lighting fixtures are up from last year, too, he said. Lighting is another relatively inexpensive way to change a home's appearance, he noted.
On the pet scene, business is bad, say two local pet store owners. For both, fish have been saving graces while other facets of their businesses have suffered due to the influx of corporate competition.
Scott Jansa, owner of Animal Adventures Pet Center in Green Bay, sells small animals such as birds, rabbits, ferrets and hamsters, but fish are the most popular sellers. Fish make good house pets and office companions, he said.
In doctors' and dentists' offices, "you walk in and they kind of relax you before you go behind that closed door," Jansa said, adding that there have been studies showing that fish can lower blood pressure.
According to Debra Mason, owner of Land, Sea and Air Pets and Supplies, fish have pulled her through some rough times.
"It's always been my good seller," she said.
However, she said she used to order fish twice a month, but demand has been cut in half. Now she places a fish order once a month. For the past several years, she has cut back on the number of pet accessories she carries.
She said she believes Wal-Mart is taking some of the customers who are buying pet accessories.
Jansa invested in some "Cat in the Hat"-themed pet toys but called them a "flop," and said predictions they would be good sellers did not hold true in his case.
Mason said besides fish sales, dog and cat food brands not carried by Wal-Mart have been good sellers over the past year.
"My customer capacity has doubled in that," she said.
Canidae for dogs and Felidae for cats has higher nutritional value and is made from U.S. meats, she said of the product that she has carried for two years.
As for car purchases, one Green Bay dealer said sales were 20 percent higher in 2003 than they are now. National trends show that the low interest rates of the past couple years lured many buyers to dealers last year, resulting in slower sales for 2004.
Given the cold and icy weather conditions, "this part of the winter has been a little slower than normal," said Mike Brennan, general manager of Brennan Buick-Isuzu.
Door
County news 
