Aramark Displays Cross Merchandise Comic Books

Cross-overs may be popular in the comics industry, but the only place readers will see the imposing team-up of Superman, Captain America and Bartman is on the headers for a family of displays produced by Aramark Corp. The four merchandisers are designed to encourage the distributor's accounts to emphasize and cross-merchandise a host of publishers' comic books."We wanted to tap into the popularity and familiarity of all these different characters to attract interest to the comics and to create a merchandising concept that screamed excitement," explains Lori Babigian, national marketing director for the Los Angeles-based magazine distributor. "We wanted to find a way to show retailers that they had a great opportunity not only to merchandise comics within the traditional magazine and book department, but also wherever products with licensed comics character are displayed." That is quite an opportunity considering that one comic character or another can be found in such diverse departments as housewares, linens, clothing, jewelry, school supplies, greeting cards and toys.While the concept built on the success one of the company's sales reps had achieved in his territory with a similar concept, Aramark also worked with Wal-Mart in its southern stores to study how the comics tended to be merchandised and what sales levels were achieved in different stores. The company then turned to Cleveland-based AG Industries to create the final merchandising concepts.The display family features four variations of permanent units, built around clear-plastic or wire racks. Two of the displays are power wings containing two rows of comics each. The racks display the comics in sets in vertical pockets holding 10 comics each. There's a gap between each set of four pockets that allows the lower two pockets in each set to fully display the comic. One version contains six vertical pairs of comics, while a second one contains fewer in order to offer a smaller retail option. The four-color, die-cut header features a variety of comic characters, including Superman and Batman from DC Comics, Captain America and the X-Men's Cyclops from Marvel, and Bartman (a.k.a. Bart Simpson) from Bongo Comics.The remaining two displays are endcaps, measuring 3 feet wide and 4 feet wide. Both feature a three-dimensional, vacuum-formed arched header with the words "Comic Realm" emblazoned in red and blue on a yellow background. The header is suspended by wire over a four-color, PVC-screen printed header depicting the same heroes plus some others, including Marvel's Spider-Man.The smaller of the two, which is designed to stand on a gondola base, offers 45 facings that can contain 12 to 15 comic books behind clear PVC sheets. The larger, designed to be freestanding, offers space for 70 facings. The units avoid the typical waterfall approach of standard spinner racks in order to provide more visibility and allow the bright colors to dominate, Babigian says. The endcaps' structures are built of laminated particleboard and painted hardboard with red vertical supports and a bright yellow base to draw attention.Mass merchants received most of the first production run, Babigian says, but other types of stores participated as well. The company is also leaving open the possibility of doing another run. "We're getting support from across the channel," she says. "We wanted to offer an entire family of options so we could be sure to have something in our portfolio to meet any merchandising need, and it's working well. Comics publishers are continually finding new ways to extend their characters' lives in cartoons, movies, toys and other licensing venues, and we think these displays offer a neat opportunity to allow retailers to grow their business, too, by exponentially expanding the category in their stores."

P2PI MEMBERS

JOIN P2PI

You May Also Like

Brand Watch: Oreo Shines at Target, Family Dollar

In-Store Experience: Inspired Cannabis’ ‘House of Brands’