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Displaying unique food and glass bottles of soda pop near the checkout counter has customers coming back for treats at Capac Hardware in Capac, Michigan.
The Do it Best store bought more than 700 bottles of carbonated drinks through a company called Mom & Pop and created an eye-catching display of them after Thanksgiving. Six packs of the drinks, which come in bottles and in dozens of flavors, sold well as holiday gifts, but they now attract customers who simply drop by the store to get a unique thirst quencher.
Some customers buy the soda just to try the different flavors, which include traditional root beer, but also unusually named concoctions such as zombie brain juice, which is a strawberry-orange drink, and chocolate-covered maple bacon, store owner Jeff Kegler says.
“I wanted something you can’t buy just anywhere. They come to you because they can’t get that somewhere else,” he says.
The soda pop display, along with other endcaps containing candies and locally made sugar-coated almonds, are placed near the store checkout counter, where the items sell well as impulse items, he says.
Kegler took a cue from big-box retailers, which often sell refreshments near the checkout counters.
Independent stores can create attractive displays with unique edible or drinkable items, and they also have the freedom to buy locally and adapt the product mix based on what sells well.
