From: ASAP
TRG Group, maker of Riddell® Footwear, a leader in moderately-priced athletic shoes for children and adults, introduces a patent-pending promotion for the back-to-school season. This promotion meets two critical needs for families: new school shoes for children and a cool way for those same kids to carry their lunch. Beginning in June, all Riddell girl’s and boy’s shoes will come in an insulated lunch box - free with the purchase of Riddell children’s shoes. Now parents can check two school supply items off the list, and save the cost of an insulated lunch box (average retail price of $7.99). Lunch boxes, along with shoes and backpacks, are the most commonly purchased items by families for back-to-school.
Terry Bader, Vice President of Marketing, explains, “During a brainstorming session Ed Travis, Senior Vice President/General Manager of Riddell® Footwear, threw out the lunch box concept. We immediately put this idea in front of parents in a market research test and it received the highest approval rating of any concept we’ve ever tested.” For every parent that purchased children’s shoes for the previous school year, there was probably a new lunch box purchased in the same trip. Greg Siwak, Senior Vice President of Product Design for all TRG Group brands summed it up, “This marriage of fun and function just makes good sense for everybody.”
Ed Travis remarked, "We took this concept to both new and existing Riddell retailers and were overwhelmed by the response. They all see it as a unique, value-added offer that appeals to the parent’s need to save time and money while providing kids with a fun, colorful product and design.” Every indication is that this program will dramatically boost sales during this critical period for retailers. “In fact, Riddell Footwear has already tripled sales from this time last year and has received unprecedented support of our Point-of-Purchase and advertising displays,” continues Travis.
The lunch box functions like a traditional shoe box, causing no extra work on the retailer’s behalf to institute the promotion. From a merchandising standpoint, the lunch boxes will primarily be displayed in stores that have an “open-sell” environment, where this unique feature can best attract the consumer’s eye. In-store signage and circular ads will support the promotion which will be featured at J.C. Penney and other Riddell retailers around the country.
The lunch box is made of an easy-to-clean insulated vinyl to keep contents cool and features a top handle and zipper. The boy’s athletic shoe lunch boxes are dark blue and feature an eye-catching multi-sport theme: football, biking, soccer and skateboarding. The girl’s lunch box design features an electric blue background with a multi-colored flower design. The lunch boxes can also be used to store toys, CD’s, and a variety of other items.
Riddell® Footwear is a leader in the sporting good footwear industry, producing high quality, moderately-priced athletic shoes for players at all levels of their game. TRG Group licenses the Riddell brand from Riddell Sports, the leading manufacturer of football helmets and other protective athletic gear.
For more information, please contact Chip Walther, 314-447-3112 or email chip.walther@trggrp.com.
July 2004
ASAP Fashion News Fast - Fashion news for the apparel industry
and consumers to learn more about the clothing business.