Martha Stewart grows into lawn and garden category

Home Channel News, March 6, 2000

Kmart, looking to regain market position, will roll out 1,000 new skus under the brand

Kmart is banking on Martha Stewart's growing product line to help weed out competition in lawn and garden and ripen margins in one of its key departments. Now the nation's fourth-largest seller of L&G (a decade ago it held the top spot), Kmart hopes the new program will cultivate "new customers not currently shopping the discount channel," said chairman, president and CEO Floyd Hall.

The initiative marks a significant expansion of the 50-sku Martha Stewart Everyday lawn and garden program that Kmart introduced in January 1999. The 1,000 new skus already have begun to appear in warm weather markets and will be rolled out across the chain in April.

The program focuses heavily on the process of growing, as well as the actual product. Signage and packaging provide information to explain, for example, how a particular type of flower got its name or why a French-style watering pot is more effective than a standard variety. The coordinated effort is designed to teach, to guide and to inspire the consumer after the sale has been made.

"The uniqueness of the concept is that it offers the everyday gardener a complete how-to system," Stewart said when announcing the launch. "We want [the consumer] to be successful from day one."

In addition to making an investment in special fixturing and displays, Kmart will remodel Garden Centers in 200 stores, giving them up to 40 percent more selling space for the new merchandise.

Key vendors supplying product include Burpee, Scotts, New England Pottery and Listo Products. Price points range from $1.99 for peat pots to $499 for patio sets. Product classifications in the line include:

* Potting: Fertilizer mixes in bags (8 dry quarts) or boxes (3 pounds), peat pellets, plastic cell packs to hold the pellets ranging from an 8-cell pack to a 72-cell pack, peat pots and pre-seeded peat pellets for standard vegetables such as tomatoes and lettuce or flowers such as zinnias and alyssum.

* Seeds: More than 350 varieties, selling for $1.79 per pack and organized into 13 categories; grouped seed collections containing five packs each ($6.99); pre-seeded minipots, including historical information about the flower and growing instructions greenhouse kits (six minipots for $5.99); pre-seeded herb window boxes; and 19 styles of gardening gloves sized for men, women and children and classified by the type of job they are meant to handle.

* Watering: 50- to 100-foot garden hoses, with prices ranging from $21.99 to $31.99; a 2 1/2 gallon galvanized watering can ($19.99); nozzles and sprinklers.

* Long-handled tools: 15 skus including pruning lopers, shovels, hoes, bamboo rakes and a row marker selling for $16.99 that's used for demarcating gardening rows or creating borders and paths.

* Pots and planters: 60 skus crafted from synthetic materials for outdoor pots and 20 skus of glazed ceramic pots.

* Outdoor lighting: Coming in two different styles, packs include four lights, a power pack and 75 feet of cable ($99.99) or sold individually ($19.99).

* Live plants: Around 399 skus with easy care instructions and color-coded tags to identify which climates and conditions plants will best flourish.

* Grilling: Two grills ($159.99), an outdoor cooker and 28 grilling accessories ($1.99 to $19.99). Grills come with recipe booklets, and utensils are packaged with recipes.

* Garden furniture: 10 collections with price points starting at $149 for the 5-piece Palisades set: a 42-inch round table, four folding chairs and cushions,

* Beach and lawn chairs: Easy-tote beach chairs with extra-wide seats and extra-tall backs. Both chair styles are designed to be chip resistant with frames made of aluminum, wood or powder-coated steel ($6.99 to $39.99).

Kmart will support the expanded line through special circular promotions, targeted direct mail pieces, billboard ads, a pair of television commercials and a series of eight print ads that will run in spring issues of home, garden and general interest magazines.

The program now makes the Martha Stewart Everyday label the signature brand in five Kmart departments, including bed, bath, kitchen and baby.

Kmart has two more on the way in 2000. This summer it will roll out a complete product assortment to its two-month-old bluelight.com e-commerce site, including the online introduction of Martha Stewart Everyday products. In the fall, Kmart will unveil a Stewart-branded line of housewares.

This story first appeared in NHCN's sister publication, Discount Store News.