Kid power sparks growth in toiletries

Drug Store News, April 5, 1993

One of the fastest growing segments in chain drug stores today is the bath care category, and inside that category itself, one of the fastest growing segments is children's toiletries.

Buyers are so taken with the demographics of the category and the growth it is experiencing, that many chains are now creating separate children's merchandising sections, stocking them with bubble bath, shampoos, conditioners, band-aids, hair accessories and other grooming essentials necessary for kids.

Mothers shopping with young children are primary targets, but so are grandparents, and the kids themselves. The category is also being sparked by the versatility of the products in the segment.

Many kids products come packaged in plastic bottles that are colorfully shaped like popular cartoon characters or animals. Children enjoy having their own product and playing with the reusable containers.

In 1991, one of the most exciting launches in this category was Delagar's collection of dinosaur bubble bath personalities: Dinosuds.

This year, building on that success, Delagar has created three new personalities for the line, all decked out in bright, neon colors that young children love. Older children will easily identify with this dino-gang, because they're all based on popular themes.

There's a dino on a skateboard, a dino on roller blades and even a dino with a ghetto blaster. Kids will like the fruit flavored fragrances in these bubble baths while parents will be pleased with the price and the bathroom safe containers.

Delagar Makes Bath Time Fun

Ever seen a small child take a little bar of soap and play with it. Parents are delighted when that happens, because it's always easier to get a child to wash and clean up when there's fun involved.

Well, now there's more fun in store because Delagar has taken their bright Dinosuds characters and transformed them into colorful little bars of bright colored soaps The attractive price points will encourage parents to buy several, some for their own kids and some for their children to give to their friends as birthday gifts.

Parents of small children are notorious impulse shoppers. If they see something cute, useful and not too expensive and they know their kids will like it, they buy it. That's why Delagar's little bathtub buddy has turned out to be such a tempting item. The tub is a cracked dinosaur shell, occupied by a baby dino lathering up his head. Each shrinkwrapped dish holds three little soaps.

Now what's the first thing kids do after drying off from their bath. They brush their teeth, of course, and they'll be doing that a lot more often once they meet up with Delagar's new fun-to-use octopus handle toothbrushes. These soft bristle brushes come with their own dino-holder. Kids have a choice of four different colored dinos, each smiling and supporting the brushes in the cradle of their arms.

Kids can brush and at the same time fantasize that they're snorkling with their dino-pals. Kids won't know the price of these grooming necessities but parents will quickly appreciate the price and quality. Delagar's proprietary designs allow for lower production costs than those associated with licensed characters. Those savings are passed on to the consumer. All the Delagar dinosud characters are reasonably priced. Retailers will also like the fact that original characters don't fall out of fashion as many licensed characters do. Dinosaur characters always seem to be in style with kids, just look at the phenomenal popularity of the Barney TV show. To maximize sales opportunities, these items can be cross merchandised in the toy and baby departments as well as in the kids's toiletry section.