Teen consumers are music to Kmart's ears - K Mart Corp.'s Auburn Hills, Michigan prototype store's Music and Movies department

Discount Store News, Feb 1, 1993

Kmart wants the teen shopper and has developed a merchandising concept to lure them into the store and through the checkout.

The bait is its new Music & Movies department. A test program that is likely to appear in all Kmarts in the future in one form or another, offers teens a music and prerecorded video department separate from TVs, VCRs and other consumer electronics products. Music & Movies offers teens the most popular music and video selections at sharp prices and in an atmosphere designed to meet their aesthetic tastes.

In addition, Kmart has added a music preview kiosk of Top 50 releases. This, of course, serves two purposes: to help the teens make the correct selection and curtail returns; and to encourage add-on sales by permitting them to preview as many singles as they want to listen to.

"We want to bring in the teenagers," declared Kmart chairman Joseph Antonini during a media tour of the new Auburn Hills store two days before the grand opening.

"This is a key to attracting the younger shopper. The first thing the kids come in for and look at is music and movies, and they recognize the hot prices," Antonini explained.

One department sign promoted CDs at $9.91 and cassettes at $6.91

Kmart currently has six Music & Movies prototype outlets testing the concept. One such department, in Kmart's store on Telegraph Road in Detroit, is called Music & Videos. It is located next to CE in a front corner of the store.

Kmart executives view Music & Movies as critical to winning over teens and influencing their image of Kmart by sharply pricing CDs and prerecorded videos.

In the opening weeks of the Auburn Hills store on Joslyn Road, the traditional Kmart shopper was still getting used to their new surroundings. Therefore, more than half the shoppers, 53%, were unaware of the key feature of the department, the Top 50 music preview kiosk, according to research conducted for DSN by Leo J. Shapiro & Associates, Chicago. However, when asked how much of a benefit the shopper saw in such a program, nearly eight out of 10 said they saw a benefit.

The new Music & Movies department is a 2,000 sq.-ft. horizontally merchandised area positioned in front of the checkout area to the left of the front doors. Broken away from consumer electronics, which is located along the outer right wall of the store, Music & Movies was designed to attract teens as soon as they enter the store. The merchandise selection is entirely music and prerecorded videos.

Selections for young children, such as Disney movies, are included in the department. However, the Nintendo and Sega Genesis kiosks are in the CE department.

The Music & Movies department was the discounter's latest version of the department. It was designed for Kmart by Transworld Music of Albany, N.Y. At the time Auburn Hills opened, another Music & Movies outlet opened in a Kmart in Twekesbury, Mass.

The Auburn Hills version is the only Music & Movies department in the front of the store and with a horizontal layout. However, the current versions include those like Auburn Hills which is separated from CE by half a store and others like Telegraph Road that stand beside it.

Music & Movies at Auburn Hills has a bold color scheme, red, white, black and yellow, which serves as a backdrop for the popular music that fills the airwaves in the department. The centerpiece of the area is the music preview system that enables shoppers to listen to excerpts of the Top 50 hits.

Each music preview is on CD-ROM and is updated monthly, said Curt Andrews, director of marketing, advertising and public relations for Transworld Music.

The preview kiosk is just inside the entrance to the department. Shoppers, who listen to their selections on headphones, may preview any number of excerpts by following the directions on the kiosk or by audio instruction.

"We're very excited and optimistic about the program we're working on with them [Kmart] and we feel we can help them accomplish what they want to do and that is cater to teens," said Andrews.