Woolworth Expresses into its first neighborhood site

Drug Store News, Oct 9, 1989

Woolworth Expresses into its first neighborhood site

WOODSIDE, N. Y. -- The Woolworth specialty store onslaught continued in high gear last month, as the company opened two Woolworth Express stores and two Rx Place deep discount drug stores. Among them: the first Woolworth Express in a neighborhood, non-mall, non-strip center setting.

The stores are significant to competing drug chains because health and beauty aids account for 35 to 40 percent of volume, and are priced competitively against Genovese and other local operators.

"We'll continue expanding into neighborhood areas when we open a store in Manhattan on Fifteenth Street and First Avenue," Hank Von Speegle, director of operations, told Drug Store News. That opening is slated for late November.

Currently, the company operates 26 Woolworth Express stores, in malls and strip centers in cities such as San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Antonio, Dallas, and Chicago. A Woolworth Express store opened last month in Sommerville, Mass., and another 27 stores are planned to open by the end of this year.

The 6,200-square-foot Woolworth Express, at 63rd Street and Roosevelt Avenue, Woodside, sells H&BAs, OTCs, stationery, greeting cards, household supplies, candies and snacks, with an emphasis on brand names displayed in a space-efficient manner. Gondolas are angled off a center traffic aisle for maximum visibility, and merchandise is stacked to the ceiling.

Competitive price points

With 35 to 40 percent of Woolworth Express' business coming from H&BAs, John Monahan, manager of the Woodside store, said his store's price points are competitive with a Genovese located just two blocks away.

Von Speegle added, "Our advertised price points in our store windows build traffic. By advertising small appliances and household cleaners in the windows, we get customers into the store, and the H&BA items are tag-alongs."

The Woodside store is somewhat larger than the normal 5,500 to 6,000 square foot typical Woolworth Express, said Monahan. "Because we're a neighborhood store, we carry a little more," he said.

To cater to needs of home office customers, the Woolworth Express sells fax paper, computer paper, floppy disks, mailing supplies and Mead Cambridge stationery.

To tailor its mix to local Hispanic residents, the store sells party pinatas, Hispanic greeting cards, South American and European candy bars, and an expanded mix of household supplies -- all of which customers seek.

On the deep discounter front, Rx Place, which up until two years ago only operated eight stores, opened two stores last month -- one in Marlton, N.J., in a shopping center with a Bradlees discount store and a Shop Rite food store, and the second in Syracuse, N.Y. A third Rx Place store opening is planned in New York for late November.

PHOTO : Woolworth Express sells, not rents, prerecorded videotapes, and plays hit movies to induce

PHOTO : sales.

PHOTO : Window ads, sharp prices draw shoppers into chain's first non-mall, non-strip center site.