SuperStand, a magazine megastore, is about to flex its muscles in the Chicago market.
On July 14, this Houston-based firm will open three locations: one in the Old Town area (1620 N. Wells St., across from Treasure Island), one in Arlington Heights (in the Arlington Town Square shopping center, 3 S. Evergreen Ave.) and one in Schaumburg (in the Streets of Woodfield shopping center, 601 N. Martingale).
That opening flurry will be followed by a store in Highland Park, as well as one in Deerfield, in August.
With such a bold move into an expansion market, SuperStand obviously means business, and there will be other stores in the Chicago area, says Rick Mulinix, its vice president-marketing.
With seven stores in Houston and another four in Dallas, SuperStand is taking quite a leap into Chicago.
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“We like the diversity of the Chicago market,” he says. “It ranks high in retail sales, but we’re going to have to do a job introducing ourselves.”
The typical SuperStand embraces 3,000 square feet, and it carries probably four or five times more titles than a typical magazine sales outlet. There are, incidentally, 6,500 retail outlets, nationally, including supermarkets, mass merchandisers and tiny street-corner vendors, that sell magazines.
The magazine publishing business obviously loves a venture like SuperStand, which can showcase its products.
SuperStand stores feature magazine racks that allow full-cover facing of a magazine title, under bright lighting, so shoppers can easily find what they’re looking for.
Privately held SuperStand, which was founded in Houston in 1997, is eyeing another 50 locations around the country–some to be opened later this year–all by the end of 2001.
Building awareness in the Chicago market will be challenging. To address this, SuperStand throughout the first month of business at each of its five Chicago-area locations will donate 5 percent of gross sales to the James Flanigan Foundation, which works to raise awareness of children’s literacy issues.
Says Mulinix: “Literacy is very important to us,” certainly commendable for the firm.
Of course, there’s another side of the coin for SuperStand. More literate readers are also potential customers of SuperStand.
FCB boosts Anderson: FCB Chicago promoted Dana Anderson, an executive VP, to the additional newly created post of managing director, reporting to Brian Williams, its president. Anderson had been executive VP, director of account planning. In her new post, Anderson, 45, will focus on day-to-day operations. Williams’ responsibilities include overseeing account management and strategy. FCB Chicago has billings of $1.3 billion. Other personnel: Tommy King to sales promotion manager of WLUP FM. … Blish Mize to PR coordinator for the Polo Ralph Lauren store on North Michigan Avenue, and for the RL Restaurant adjacent to it.
Riney lands Wesley-Jessen: Des Plaines-based Wesley-Jessen, the maker of contact lenses, assigned Publicis & Hal Riney Chicago the consumer portion of its advertising account, an estimated $7 million in billing. Riney picks up the business from incumbent Crowley Webb & Associates, a Buffalo, N.Y., ad agency, which retains the professional portion aimed at doctors.
H & R Block, the Kansas City, Mo.-based financial services firm, early this week expects to make a decision on its $100 million advertising-communications account, the finalists being DDB Chicago and Minneapolis ad agency Campbell-Mithun-Esty. Rumors circulating late Friday indicated Block was headed to DDB, but a Block spokeswoman said “no decision had been made.” The winner will succeed ad agency Y&R Chicago and other Y&R Inc. units.
– Coil, Counts, Ford & Cheney, a Chicago ad agency, formed a new promotion and direct-marketing division called Jumpstart, headed by Tom Sasser and Jim Mohiser, both former J. Walter Thompson USA creative directors, who recently headed their own promotion-direct marketing-consulting firm.
Strictly Personal: Birthday greetings to Michael Hoadley, 30 (Tanquay Burke Stratton); Al Golin, 71; Vicki Moyer, 26; Karen Donaldson Blatchford, 31 (DDB); Chris L. Peldo, 36; attorney Howard Pearl, 46; and Betsy Johnson, 43 (Flossmoor Country Club).