Martha moves out of the kitchen - Martha Stewart's endorsements of K mart products extended from kitchenware to other housewares - HomeMarket Trends supplement

Discount Store News, May 8, 1989 by Mike Hartnett

Martha Moves Out Of the Kitchen

The introduction last month of three new bedroom sheet ensembles designed exclusively for K mart by Martha Stewart marked the beginning of a powerhouse merchandising and marketing program that is expected to instill new excitement into the mass market home furnishings industry.

The first of several planned Martha Stewart private label products across a number of merchandise categories, the bed and bath collection "offers K mart customers beautiful, well-made products that are practical and affordable," said Stewart, a moderately well-known cookbook author until she joined K mart in 1987 as its lifestyle and home entertaining consultant.

K mart's competitors are likely to see the ads and promotions this month for the "At Home With Martha Stewart" program and ask themselves, "Why didn't we think of that?"

But, few retailers have K mart's tremendous resources and no other discount chain can offer suppliers the opportunity to expand their presence in a chain with more than 2,200 stores nationwide.

The promotion is outrageously ambitious and deceptively simple. With a $20 million advertising budget and 37 separate suppliers participating, K mart enlisted Stewart to guide consumers through all the steps involved in refurbishing and decorating a 19th century home she recently purchased in Westport, Conn.

During all the various projects done in the 16-room home, Stewart will offer her advice and insights on everything from caulking windows to decorating bedrooms--all featuring products available at K mart stores.

After consumers have seen these product demonstrations in television and magazine ads, and read how-to editorial coverage in Family Circle magazine, they will quickly notice some in-store changes at K mart.

Signage at the front of stores will establish a strong connection between the ads and the products by offering directions to merchandise categories. Point-of-purchase materials will provide further assistance, and toppers will identify particular lines. In some cases, new products will be offered in special packaging in a distinctive blue hue. All packaging will featurethe Martha Stewart name.

The participating suppliers say they are pleased to have been included in K mart's program and many are impressed with the lack of demands the retailing giant has made on them.

K mart and Martha Stewart did create several new products with new patterns, designs and colors for the promotion, but many other products being featured are exactly the same as those already on store shelves. The difference is that Stewart has now singled many of them out for special mention in advertising.

The scope of the promotion is an indication of the importance K mart places on creating a strong connection between itself and a nationally recognized spokeswoman known for her good taste and discerning eye, as well as with the hundreds of products in the promotion that are commonly available on K mart store shelves.

K mart isn't changing its assortment, nor is it even trying to cultivate a more upscale image, it says. The chain simply wants consumers to know that with its broad selection and brand name assortment it is already well positioned to respond to the fashion preferences of its customers.

This most recent promotion marks the second major program Martha Stewart has been involved with since hitching her wagon to K mart's star. In the earlier program she focused on the stores' Kitchen Korner area.

With this latest promotion she has made the jump to several different product areas, including hardware, consumer electronics and domestics.

Suppliers as diverse as DAP caulking, G.E.'s lighting division, Dutch Boy Paints, Shop-Vac, Soundesign, Omni-Filter, The West Bend Company, Rennie Sunshine Home Fashions, Corning Glass Works and Cannon Mills, among several others, are all participants in the program.

" `At Home With Martha Stewart' offers K mart the opportunity to demonstrate the style, value and assortment of our home fashions. We want consumers to think of us first when shopping for products for their homes," said Michael Wellman, vice president of marketing.

"The program was conceived with Martha and since it involved the whole house--a total home restoration project--and since K mart carries all those products, it would have been foolish not to include all those home areas," explained Marilyn Gill, divisional merchandise manager for home fashions at K mart.

"The original project was enlarged. It was an opportunity that begged us to take part," said Gill, who is coordinating the home fashions part of the program. George Glidden, K mart's divisional merchandise manager for home improvement, supervises the hard lines products in the program, such as paint, hardware, tools and the like.

Barbara Loren, K mart's retail marketing consultant and the person credited with convincing K mart chairman Joseph Antonini of using Martha Stewart as the chain's home fashions guru, said Martha Stewart has a greatdeal of credibility outside of home fashions product categories because of her experience and expertise in home refurbishing projects.