NE regionals upscale RTA mix: chains feature eye-catching displays, stylish product - northeastern regional discount chains; ready-to-assemble furniture

Discount Store News, Oct 17, 1994 by Teresa Andreoli

Unassembled kitchen furniture is also displayed in showroom style, from utility carts to casual tables and chairs. Placemats, tableware and artificial flowers accent the floor samples.

A Wal-Mart that operates a stone's throw from the Ames also incorporates plant accents, but it too stacks its medium wood RTA at eyelevel, shoulder-to-shoulder on the shelf. Unassembled gun rack cabinets are palleted in the middle of a racetrack aisle.

One solid wood unfinished book shelf sat among Wal-Mart's RTA mix, with an $89 price tag but an even larger lay-away promotion sign posted on its shelf.

"Wal-Mart's chief advantage in RTA is its square footage, its store's physical size," said Bush's Gelke. "They show quite a bit, when you walk into a store you get overwhelmed with mass. But Wal-Mart's is geared more toward promotional price points."