CINCINNATI -- The Kroger Co. has signed an exclusive agreement with prepaid card provider Blackhawk Network to bring Blackhawk's Gift Card Mall to the retailer's supermarkets and later to its convenience stores.
Cincinnati-based Kroger operates (either directly or through its subsidiaries) more than 2,491 supermarkets and multi-department stores in 31 states under banners that include Kroger and Kroger Marketplace, Ralphs, Fred Meyer, Food 4 Less, Dillons and others. The addition of these stores to Blackhawk Network's retail presence will allow Blackhawk [image-nocss] to reach millions of additional shoppers during the holiday season and beyond.
The Gift Card Mall carries more than 100 retail branded gift cards, said Don Kingsborough, president and CEO of Blackhawk Network, Pleasanton, Calif. "With the addition of Kroger to our list ofretail partners, Blackhawk Network's Gift Card Malls will now be conveniently located in grocery stores that represent 90% of the top supermarket sales volume in the United States."
Kroger plans to support the launch of the new Gift Card Malls with aggressive and innovative marketing campaigns that include television, radio and in-store promotions. Kroger will display Blackhawk Network's gift cards on end caps and at check stands.
Kroger also operates 780 c-stores, which will feature Blackhawk Network's gift cards in late 2008. The c-stores are in 16 states: Loaf 'N Jug in Colorado, New Mexico, Nebraska, Montana, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota and Wyoming; Turkey Hill Minit Markets in Pennsylvania; Tom Thumb Food Stores in Florida and Alabama; Kwik Shop Inc. in Illinois, Iowa, Kansas and Nebraska; and Quik Stop Markets Inc. in California and Nevada.
Blackhawk Network, a subsidiary of Safeway Inc., is a prepaid and payments network, a provider of card-based financial solutions and the largest provider of third-party prepaid cards. It develops products in easy-to-use formats and delivers them to consumers through an exclusive retail network of grocery, mass, convenience, drug and specialty retailers. The network includes more than 82,000 store fronts and reaches more than 165 million consumers each week, the company said.
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