Live from New York: Supermarket of Savings Restructures
With an infusion of millions of dollars, Supermarket of Savings has launched a number of initiatives as part of a major restructuring following its Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing last year.
To rebuild financially, the company has signed a multi-year, multi-million dollar lending agreement with Reservoir Capital in Maryland, said Larry Tucker, president and CEO of Supermarket of Savings.
With the funds, the company has increased its reach by extending it shared mail program to include 12.5 million 50-to-65 year olds. The program called “Mature Americans” begins mailing this fall and offers African American and Hispanic selections.
Tucker said the company also increased its mail frequency from three to four times per year on its flagship shared mailing that targets 12.5 million young families. The program now offers selects of new parents, parents of preschoolers, Hispanics and African Americans. The envelope has been redesigned to feature infants, toddlers and preschoolers.
In addition, the company launched a Web site, http://www.supermarketofsavings.com two weeks ago. Close to 25 million child-safety fingerprinting identification forms were mailed in a year-long public service campaign.
Earlier this year, the company repositioned the brand by emphasizing the name Jane Tucker, Larry’s wife and a mother of four. “We’re repositioning with the softer, warmer touch of a real female,” the company’s primary target, Tucker said.
In other news, unrelated to the initiatives to rebuild Supermarket of Savings, Tucker himself has formed a partnership with International Data, El Paso, TX, to open an affiliate company, Rio Grand Mailings in Juarez, Mexico. The mail processing facility is housed in a site owned by International Data. It handles the large runs for Supermarket of Savings and offers mailers prices 20% lower than those in the United States, Tucker said.
Tucker has also funded a new stand-alone company, PackageInsertMedia.com, that offers free introductory space opportunities in a number of package insert programs.
Supermarket of Savings filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in March 1999 and resolved that matter this year on March 15, Tucker said.
