Chart your course. One of the best parts of being a fresh produce manager is creating the merchandising plan.
This often comes in little sparks of ideas. It begins when the upcoming ad comes in from the main office and you see what items are lead, secondary and “liner” — or secondary produce items being pushed for the week. The merchandising ideas start to gel. You map out your table changes. Then you adjust your orders accordingly and let your crew know what’s going on and when the changes will take place.
Other times the plan is more involved, such as when you’re doing a wholesale changeover from a summer set to a fall merchandising set.
That’s when you get your produce graph paper with your department laid out on it. You’ve made these “base” blank copies before, right? They’re in the top drawer of your backroom, gray desk.
You take out a copy and start making changes on paper so that your crew knows that it’s serious this time. It’s not a major merchandising jaunt but rather it’s major enough that you have to not only adjust your orders; schedule a closer to prep, clean and mat tables; then schedule a few people to come in early and make that big seasonal merchandising change.
Then again, there’s the best plan of all: merchandising for a remodel or a new store set.
That’s when the produce blueprint plan really comes in handy. I’ve seen this plan scratched out on everything from a few blank carton lids to a computer-generated schematic complete with detailed product facings, space and fixture layouts. Very snazzy.
However, most produce departments still rely on good, old-fashioned graph paper (I prefer one-quarter inch to 1 foot scale) with trimmed, sticky notes that work well to lay out fixture positions. This is best for most I suspect, as it’s very easy to label the stickers and move things around on the graph paper as you talk about what produce items should go where.
As one produce manager said, “It’s way easier to move things around on paper rather than set the department without a plan, then have to physically move heavy product again and again.” No thanks. A plan on paper makes the task far easier, and it helps with the ordering, too.
And as volatile as produce items can be from one week to another, as far as availability, you always have to keep in mind that your plan may change several times when finalizing a remodel or new store set, depending on the time of year and seasonal item delays or interruptions. Then, finally, you’re running with it.
Even Eisenhower once said, “A good plan, violently executed now, is better than a perfect plan next week.” So, don’t expect that your merchandising plan will ever be perfect. As I’ve said once or 50 times in the past 20 years in this space: Plan your work, then work your plan.
That graph paper and those little cut-outs of your produce tables are your best buddies as you plan your produce merchandising changes. Keep a few spare templates someplace safe, so when it’s time to plan for the next big produce merchandising changes, you’ll be ready.
Or as is commonly said these days — just cut and paste.
Armand Lobato’s more than 50 years of experience in the produce business span a range of foodservice and retail positions. He has written a weekly retail column for two decades.
