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ADVERTISING & MARKETING BrooIcTA&S Bears It All For ChristmasBY TRACY GARRITYIt is October 23 in Brooklyn. Smallchildren are carving teeth into jack-olantems. Couples are planning trips north tolook at the foliage. Sports fans are glued totelevision sets as the bats crack at theWorld Series. Everywhere it is fall.Everywhere except the sixth floor of FultonStreet%u2019s A&S headquarters where you canalmost smell chestnuts roasting on an openfire, and hear a chorus of Jingle Bells.While the country as a whole enjoys thecrisp snap of fall, at retail stores it%u2019s beginning to look a lot like Christmas.It%u2019s no secret that Christmas is more thana one day affair for retailers, but thepackaging of Christmas at A&S actuallybegins in January, soon after the last of thewrapping paper and tinsel has been tossedin the garbage.%u201cIt%u2019s a total store effort that begins earlyin the year,%u201d explains Ronnie Taffet,operating vice president and director ofspecial events and publicity at A&S. %u201cPeople are going to shop for Christmas, and wehave to come up with programs and promotions that will get them to shop at A&S.%u201dHot items for Christmas are as muchmarketing genius as personal tastes. Personal taste because consumers will alwaysbuy what they like; but marketing geniusbecause store buyers make their Christmasselections as early as March %u2014 a full ninemonths before Santa loads up his proverbialsleigh. Once the selections are made, it%u2019s upto the stores to make sure they%u2019re still hotin November when the big Christmas rushoccurs.%u201cIt%u2019s still a combination of the merchants,the visual presentation department, andsales promotion,%u201d says Taffet. %u201cThe merchants are very involved, but it is also atotal store effort.%u201d%u201cThe merchants may decide that a particular item will be hot and we tell themwhat colors our customers are choosing,%u201dadds Patrick Ward, of the A&S specialevent department.%u201cWe put together a program around thoseitems,%u201d says Taffet. But all those decisionsare made long before the first snowflakefalls and most of them when customers arebuilding sandcastles at the beach.A&S uses several standard devices to sellChristmas, although both Taffet and Wardagree the holiday has its own built-in callingcard. %u201cHie original marketing forChristmas happened 2,000 years ago,%u201d saysWard. %u201cPeople will always shop for gifts atChristmas time. We just try to make the atmosphere more exciting.%u201d%u201cAnd the shopping easier,%u201d adds Taffet.To streamline gift purchases when thestore aisles get crowded in November, A&Ssets up shops in each of its 16 stores in theNew York area. While each of the shopsaren%u2019t in all the stores, the Fulton Streetflagship store does have them all to promote a one-stop shopping atmosphere at theFulton Mall.SHOPS DAZZLE CUSTOMERSSome of the shops %u2014 actually departmentmicrocosms %u2014 are yearly standards, suchas the Trim-A-Tree Shop that dazzlescustomers on the sixth floor, or the Gift Express that includes mens and ladies accessories, some furniture, lingerie andtable-top items. Others are put togetherbased on the previous year%u2019s demand, orwhat the store chooses to promote. BlackTie Gala, which includes items of formalwear and accessories is one such shop. Theshop items are culled from items already inthe department, but wrapped up andpackaged to tell the customer: %u201cBuy thisfor Christmas!%u201d%u201cThese items are in the store everyChristmas,%u201d says Taffet. %u201cBut this year weare putting them all together in one placeso the customer won%u2019t have to look aroundfor them.%u201d Again, it%u2019s not the item, but thepackaging. All of the shops are decoratedwith Christmas houghs with twinkling lightsand a generally festive atmosphere %u2014 andmost of them have been up since midOctober.%u201cWe usually start Christmas sales in Oc%u00ad(BROOKLYN.INC/Garritv Photo)Hot items for Christmas are asmuch marketing genius aspersonal taste. Personal tastebecause consumers will alwaysbuy what they like; butmarketing genius becausestore buyers make theirChristmas selections asearly as May %u2014 a fullnine months beforeSanta loads up hisproverbialsleigh.to rest on. Several promotions have beenplanned for the season including the standard carollers and window dressings thatoutfit Fulton Mall for Christmas. And thestar of this year%u2019s promotion is Abearham,and his pal Straus the Mouse.Three years ago Abearham was justanother out-of-work plush toy waiting tostuff a stocking or be grabbed from under atree. This year %u2014 after a makeover that hasmade him larger, white, and plushier, andpermanently attached Straus to his shoulder%u2014 Abearham is the star attraction of theA&S Christmas promotion. He%u2019s on thecover of the catalog. Sixteen life-size bearsuits are in the stores for employees to takeon the role. He%u2019s the object of a contest.He%u2019s the dividend in the purchase with purchase promotion A&S has planned beginning October 31 in each of the stores. He isChristmas 1986 at A&S.NOW A WHITE CUDDLY TOYTo take Abearham home in your shoppingbag today costs $25. After the first ofNovember, he%u2019ll be available for $9.99 witha $50 purchase. %u201cWho doesn%u2019t spend $50 atChristmas,%u201d says Taffet. %u201cIt%u2019s a great promotion,%u201d she adds. And Abearham, whobegan as a small black bear three yearsago, was modified to tan last year, has hisfinal incarnation as a white cuddly toy.In addition, once you get him home, thechild of your choice can enter a drawingcontest on the card attached to Abearham%u2019sneck. Children color the pictures ofAbearham on the entry blank and bring itback to the store to win. Winners in severalcategories take home 3^ -foot replicas ofAbearham and Straus the Mouse.%u201cAs it gets closer to Christmas we%u2019ll haveloose entry blanks in the Children%u2019s toydepartment for those who want to enter thecontest, but don%u2019t want to buy Abearham,%u201dsays Taffet. %u201cBut we think Abearham willbe a big seller this year.%u201d Other promotionswill include a breakfast with Santa for agroup of needy children.%u201cWe haven%u2019t selected the group yet,%u201d saysTaffet, %u201cbut they%u2019ll get to eat, and meetSanta and Abearham, and we%u2019ll give themeach a gift before they leave.%u201dSanta, himself, will be at A&S in a bit ofChristmas tradition. In perhaps the onlyrnlA acc/vniatoH urith n u llin o th o h n lirtn v4 w %u2022>together, Santa will not appear atA&S until the day after Thanksgiving.%u201cThat%u2019s tradition,%u201d says Taffet. %u201cEven inretail we%u2019re not going to change that.%u201dtober,%u201d says Ward. %u201cIt may vary a bit. Youcould start October 10 this year and October17 next year, but all retailers start in October.%u201d And customers start buying.%u201cCustomers are already looking for nextyear%u2019s presents the day after Christmas,%u201dsays Ward.DIRECT MAIL ANNOUNCEMENTSA&S lets the public know it%u2019s Christmastime in Brooklyn in the usual manner %u2014 acatalog and several direct mail pieces,coupled with print advertising.The catalog, a hefty piece of mail thatwill make it to homes in early Novemberwill be followed by six other direct mailpieces to clue potential shoppers as towhat%u2019s available at A&S%u2019s shops.In order to be ready for a Novembermailing date, artists and advertisingdepartments gear up over the summer tocomplete the task. %u201cWe think aboutChristmas on a year-round basis,%u201d repeatsTaffet simply. %u201cAll retail stores do. Youcan%u2019t think in seasons or you won%u2019t beready. We%u2019re always at least six monthsahead of the public.%u201dWith slightly less than two months left toshop for Christmas, the holiday atmosphereis in full tilt at A&S. Definitely behind thescenes, but also out in full view, as in theTrees and Trim Shop that twinkles inChristmas finery in the gift department.Stacks of stockings, Santa dolls, artificialtrees wait to be taken home. Millions of ornaments dance from walls and in basketsfor young hands to place on their hometree. Tinsel and garland and ribbon andwrapping papers are all lined at the readyfor the Christmas rush.CASH REGISTERS JINGLINGAnd already the cash register in thedepartment jingles up the sales. Withoutpromotion. Without the catalog. Without thehype. It%u2019s like Ward says, Christmas sellsChristmas.But the early success of the Trim A TreeShop is not enough of a laurel for the storePatrick W ard and R onnie T a ffe t c h e c k out w h at's in s to re for A & S during the C h ris tm a sseason, in an upcom ing catalo g . (B R O O K L Y N ,IN C /G a rrity Photo)O c to b er 30, 1986, T H E P H O E N IX /B R O O K L Y N .IN C Section Tw o, Page 15