Get cooking in the outdoor B'B'CI market

IME and time again the home center manager is told to "cover the basics" to ensure good profit margins and store performance. Nowhere is this more true than in selling outdoor cooking equipment, such as gas barbecue grills.

From a standpoint of a manufacturer, home centers represent one of the biggest growth areas for the sales of gas grills. Figures compiled by Arkla Industries with the aid of Keller-Crescent Co. reveal that home centers accounted for l39o of all gas grill sales in the United States during 1982. Compare that with figures that

By William L. Regan Vice President,

show virtually no gas grills were sold in home centers during 1970, a year when gas utilities sold t29o of all outdoor gas appliances, and natural gas grills were the rule.

During 1983, we expect home centers to increase their share of sales of gas grills to 1890. The National Home Center Improvement Congress estimates that 4o/o of all home centers sold some sort of barbecue equipment during 1982, of which some 235,(XX) were gas grills.

For many home center managers, the question is often a matter of how soon after Christmas should barbecue grills be put on the floor, along with the patio furniture, the lawnmowers and the like. The home center retailer, after considering in January where he should set up his display, should be ready by February to have a truly big month. Heavy promotions, such as a Washington's Birthday Sale, should be the rule. The home center should not be caught short-the public should come to think of the store as the barbecuing center which will serve everyone's needs, from grills to accessories to aprons and hot pads.

Gas grill manufacturers, such as Arkla, have done a good job in offering premiums, point of purchase materials and other incentives to home centers, who should pass them on to customers. For example, it costs very little to offer a free rotisserie or a cookbook with the purchase of a certain grill on sale. Entice people to buy early-and they will come back for other related outdoor living purchases because they think of the home center as the place to acquire such goods.

In setting up your outdoor cooking center, it's important not to confuse the public with too much choice. Although manufacturers offer many models of gas grills at all price points and models, it is not necessary for the home center to stock all of them.

While it may be heresy for a manufacturer to say this, some home centers have too many models, and try to out-inventory and out-display the competition. Instead, a tight and well-conceived display with three or four models uses less floor space, and makes it easier to train salespeople on the features of the models that the home center does carry. With manufacturers coming out with new models annually, it's hard for the sales staff-and more importantly, the customer-to keep up with all the changes. We recommend that a home center carry a standard size and a large size since these represent 8590 of the industry's business. The home center then has the option of choosing in addition a super size model, or a low end model. This becomes merely a pricing decision, based on knowledge of the market.

For example, 72s/o of all gas grill sales industrywide range between $100 and $299 at retail, and cover the basic one or two-burner models. To stock much more than that is simply not a good use of space.

Gas grills are particularly in demand, and represent a growth segment of the barbecue market.

In the South, where 2lt/o of all gas grills are sold, stronger, earlier promotional efforts realized a 64o/o in- crease in gas grill sales during 1982, according to a select group of retailers.

It should be emphasized that gas grills represent only a part of the total outdoor cooking market. As a percentage of all grills sold (both charcoal and gas) gas grills made up only

Story at a Glance

Hardware/home centers selling more gas grills . . . early spring promotions best related outdoor living pur- chases high volume growth expected to continue.

charcoal grill, broadening their appeal.

While gross margins for gas grills should be comparable to other seasonal merchandise, one of the most effective means of enhancing outdoor cooking profits is to display accessories around the grills. There are cookbooks, rotisseries, grid cleaning brushes, grill covers, and lava rocks. (Lava rocks are the second leading accessory. Although they are not unnecessary to replace, gas grill owners feel they have to replace them as part of a spring cleaning program.) With the exception of the lava rocks, and possibly the rotisserie, these accessories are applicable to charcoal grills as well as gas grills, and they have high gross margins and high volumes-an increase of some 5390 alone in 1982, with even greater volume expected during 1983.

15-160/o of the 12 million grills sold during 1982, but in dollar figures, gas grills represent fully 5490 of the total barbecue industry dollars. In fact, the low end price of gas grills has met or crossed the high end price of a

The home center retailer will note that the barbecue cooking industry is one of growth-the opposite of the trend in many other home center product lines. As an example, Arkla gas barbecue volume increases have ranged from 230/o in 1980 to 28Vo during 1982, as homeowners demanded more home entertainment items during the recession.