Schwinn's 'Phat' Display

Madison, Wis. -- When Schwinn, a division of Pacific Cycle LLC, redesigned its Sting-Ray bicycle for the 21st century,it reinvented the wheel. At least the rear wheel. The bike and P-O-P rolled into Toys "R" Us stores in April following a substantial media and public relations campaign, and the bike company is currently discussing display options with Wal-Mart.The original Sting-Ray made its debut in the 1960s and was hugely popular. So the manufacturer knew that the revamped two-wheeler's raked-out fork and high-knee position, which pay homage to the original banana-seated design, would turn the heads of parents with fond childhood memories.However, to attract the children of those parents -- consumers between 7 and 12 years of age -- Schwinn injected the newly launched version with a certain degree of "street cred." For starters, it decorated the bike with the logo of the Orange County Choppers (a group featured on the "American Chopper" TV program). Even more significant is the updated, extra-fat, rear tire. It resembles a customized motorcycle."The rear tire is unlike any tire on the market. It's really a motorcycle tire," explains Lori Heimerl, senior product marketing manager for mass channels. It doesn't fit onto a standard bicycle rack, so marketers devised a different way to grab attention. The result is a unit on which one bike sits in its own rack. Produced by Darko Inc., Twinsburg, Ohio, it has a tapered back panel that lists the primary features of the bike: custom chopper frame, height-adjustable saddle, custom drag bar and 4-inch rear tire. Emblazoned with flames, the panel also features photos of the three SKUs (red, black or blue) that the toy merchandiser carries. Each photo is accompanied by a holder for pick tickets. Retailers can display accessories on a rack that attaches to the panel. All of the 400 displays that were produced will appear at Toys "R" Us."We needed a new way to merchandise the bike in a secondary location that gets it out into the main-action aisle," says Heimerl. Schwinn is discussing other design ideas with Wal-Mart, Heimerl explains. "They prefer to palletize displays, but the bike is so large that there aren't a lot of options for presenting it from a corrugated or palletized version," she says.

Schwinn's 'Phat' Display

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