J.C. Penney stores are distributing fliers for a free 12-ounce cup of coffee at 7-Eleven stores good the day after Thanksgiving through Sunday. And at 7-Eleven checkout and coffee counters, easel displays have tear pads with J.C. Penney coupons good for $10 off purchases of $50 this Saturday.
It's one of many ways that retailers are getting creative [image-nocss] this holiday season as they face a frugal consumer during the industry's most important season of the year.
"Smart retailers are coming up with good ideas. This nasty crisis is just bringing out the creativity of the survivors," Candace Corlett, president of WSL Strategic Retail, told the newspaper.
For example, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has taken the "value bundle" that video game manufacturers routinely package and extended it to other merchandise. It's selling a Disney Princess bike with a helmet and knee pads for $74.96.
And J.C. Penney coined the word "screenbusterVbCrLf for limited-time specials on jcp.com, to go with the familiar "door buster" that retailers commonly use to describe items heavily discounted for only a few hours.
J.C. Penney also said Monday that it's added 20% more door busters for the day after Thanksgiving than it offered last year.
7-Eleven has never done a cross-promotion with a clothing or department store before, said spokesperson Margaret Chabris.
Meanwhile, following 7-Eleven's announcement late last week that the 24-hour convenience store will be placing a greater focus on videogame distribution, the company admitted its street-date policies need to be improved.
Speaking with MTV Multiplayer, Chabris said, "[We need] to comply with industry standards. Not only do we council them [infringing stores], but right now we're working with our legal department to develop a policy that we're going to be sharing with our franchises at our stores saying there would be repercussions if they didn't comply."
Chabris didn't explain these "repercussions" or their severity, according to a report on 1UP.com, but placing them low enough to still encourage an early release could be the extra "oomph" the company needs to gain some solid footing in the already-crowded videogame distribution market.
Based in Dallas, 7-Eleven operates, franchises or licenses approximately 7,600 7-Eleven stores in North America.
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