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Retailer News BRIEFS GOURMET NEWS JUNE 2019 www.gourmetnews.com RETAILER NEWS 1 4 Los Angeles-Area Stores Refuse Bottle Deposit Refunds Two thirds of 50 Los Angeles, California-area grocery, convenience and drug stores that are required by the state to refund consumer deposits for empty beverage containers refused to issue refunds, according to a random audit in Los Angeles by Consumer Watchdog, which videoed its investigation. The audited stores are on an official list kept by the state agency in charge of recycling, CalRecycle, and must redeem bottle deposits because there is no nearby recycling center. Among the big chain stores sampled, Ralphs, Rite Aid, Vons, Pavilions, Albertsons, and Smart and Final denied access outright. California's 1986 bottle law obligates groceries, drug and convenience stores, and other beverage dealers to recycle empty containers and pay consumers a nickel or a dime if no recycling center exists in a half mile around a major supermarket. Now that recycling centers are in economic crisis and 40 percent have closed in recent years, grocery stores may be consumers' only option to reclaim their deposits. Target Introduces Everspring Brand of Household Essentials Target Corporation has introduced Everspring, a new household essentials brand comprised of more than 70 household essentials items. Developed by Target's internal design team as a down-to-earth solution that is up to Earth's standards, Everspring products include ingredients and components that are derived from plants or use other renewable materials, as well as post-consumer recycled paper. The assortment was designed with simple yet beautiful packaging that guests will be proud to have in their homes. Everspring arrived in stores and on Target.com beginning April 22, 2019, and will be available year-round. Everspring includes everyday products families use throughout their homes, such as laundry detergent, paper towels, hand and face wipes, multi-purpose cleaner and more. Giant Food Announces Produce Rx Program Giant Food, the leading greater Washington D.C. regional grocery chain, is participating in the Produce Rx pilot program in partnership with local nonprofit, DC Greens, to give customers better access to healthy food. Through the program, customers who are Medicaid beneficiaries through AmeriHealth Caritas DC and who are currently experiencing a diet-related chronic illness can receive a prescription for fruits and vegetables from their healthcare provider and fill the prescriptions at the Giant pharmacy at 1535 Alabama Avenue SE in Washington D.C. Customers may fill prescriptions during their weekly shopping trips at the in-store Giant pharmacy. When filled each week, a Giant pharmacist will provide the customer with a $20 coupon to be used to purchase fresh fruits and vegetables from the store's produce department. IT'SUGAR Sells Laughter. Also, Candy wander in looking for fun and stay to buy candy that's as much about humor as it is about sweetness. "We can obviously satisfy a sweet tooth, but more importantly, we were put on Earth to provide an irreverent escape from the mundane world," Rubin said. "We have created a store that makes you laugh, smile and enjoy yourself...When you've finished dinner at one of the enter- tainment vendors, you get hit with music and these funny products. You find yourself walking out with something you didn't even know you needed." Customers are met just inside the front door with stacked tiers holding bowl after bowl of pick-and-mix candy on island fixtures around the floor, and they're lured farther inside by shelves stacked with giant boxes of Nerds; "Saturday Night Live" confections; limited edition fla- vors of Starburst chews; nearly two dozen flavors of gummy bears; marshmallow unicorn poop, giant gummy foods rang- ing from watermelon to eggs and bacon; Charleston Chews; Pop Rocks and Razzles they loved when they were kids; PEZ dispensers cuter than the ones that swallowed their allowance when they were kids; stuffed toys shaped like candies; t-shirts cele- brating the joys of sugar; exclusive "Stranger Things" products from IT'SUGAR's continuing partnership with Netflix; and funny greeting cards that might be tucked in with a 5-pound gummy bear for a birthday gift. "When anyone gets a gift that someone purchased from IT'SUGAR, it was given to them to make them laugh," Rubin said. "IT'SUGAR is meant to elicit laughter." One of the best-selling items is Marsh- mallow Madness, a big cereal box filled with nothing but little square marshmal- lows. "We try to create products that are very funny and entertaining, versus a tra- ditional confectionery retail store," Rubin said. "Over half our sales come from exclu- sive, curated products." Another recent hit has been IT'SUGAR's line of nine cocktail-flavored gummy bears called Beary Buzzed. The new line is non- alcoholic, but the fun cocktail flavors in- clude Cosmopolitan, Gin & Tonic, Limoncello, Maple Bourbon and Margarita. They're sold in custom fillable shakers, with a full shaker retailing for $9.99. "We just had to place an emergency re-order be- cause they're sell- ing faster than we ever imagined," Rubin said. "We have our own box of gummy bear ce- real. It's part of an unbalanced diet," he added. "It's an unapologetic mes- sage that sugar de- livers. IT'SUGAR sells sugar. It doesn't hide from it. We're providing an escape from all the rules of so- ciety that everybody must live by. IT'- SUGAR kind of does that through its humor. Popular as gummy worms may be, they're still outsold by the bears," Rubin said. "Maybe it just has to do with tradi- tion," he speculated. "Although I will tell you we've come up with some interesting different shapes, but at the end of the day, bears are still what people gravitate to. When you say the word 'gummy,' you al- most expect the word 'bear' to follow." GN BY LORRIE BAUMANN With over 100 stores scattered across 27 states, IT'SUGAR has become the largest specialty candy retailer in the world. Founded by Chief Executive Officer Jeff Rubin in June 2006 with a store in front of Caesar's Palace Hotel, right on the Board- walk in Atlantic City, New Jersey, the chain has just opened a new flagship store on the Las Vegas Strip, right across the street from the Bellagio Hotel's famous fountains. Like Las Vegas itself, IT'SUGAR shops are fan- tasies in which adults can recap- ture the fun of childhood while enjoying guilty pleasures spiced with a smidgeon of temptation. And like Las Vegas itself, they're a world in which chil- dren are welcome, but they're not the pri- mary market for the thrills that are offered. "It's a much more modern version of a tra- ditional candy shop," Rubin said. "We're creating a theater to immerse you in the humor, in the fun experience of our store, so that you have a very entertaining time while you're in our store." Like the new Las Vegas store, the other IT'SUGAR stores, which range from 2,000 to 7,000 square feet in size, are in places where people congregate when they're looking for fun – mostly in resort areas or the kind of lifestyle centers that also include restaurants, bars and theaters. Their lively music and color- ful art and fixtures draw in passers-by who Stew Leonard's on the Hunt for New York Food Products Farm fresh food store Stew Leonard's launched its first-ever "Stew's Tank" com- petition this year to identify exciting new products that will sell at its stores in July. New York-based food companies were in- vited to apply online for Stew's Tank, with products judged by a buying team and the winners sold for the month of June at the Stew Leonard's store in East Meadow, New York. During that month-long trial, those products' sales were tracked by the store's buying team, with the best-sellers then judged by a panel of food experts including local chefs and Stew Leonard, Jr., President and Chief Executive Officer of Stew Leonard's. Winners from that round of the competition will be added to the shelves of all six Stew Leonard's stores in New York and Connecticut. "Stew Leonard's launched rock-star brands like Newman's Own, Bear Naked Granola, Rao's Marinara Sauce, and Long Island's Butera's Meatballs," said Leonard. "My family and I are excited about Stew's Tank, and we can't wait to taste our next best-selling product!" Just like the investors for that other "tank" devoted to new products, Stew Leonard's buyers are always on the lookout for what will be the "next big thing." Dozens of food vendors pitch Stew Leonard's buying team every week for a chance to have their product sold in-store. Unlike other grocery stores, however, Stew Leonard's doesn't accept slotting fees, which means the products on the shelves are there because customers love them – not because a big brand has paid Stew Leonard's to put them there. GN

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