251st Week Update - Miles Neighborhood One Can A Week Project

Hi Folks,

Small Reminder with Huge Potential

While checking out, at least a half dozen Sprouts customers hurried over to the One Can A Week display on Saturday and snatched a can or two to add to their order. The cashiers encouraged them with a smile and quickly scanned the items so they could put them in the food bin.

One young lady even grabbed a can from the table, paid for it and returned it to its spot on the table. Since that particular can had already been paid for—some folks hand their donations directly to me which I stack on the table—I thought, “wait” and even held up one finger. I stopped myself, not wanting to embarrass her and waited until she left the supermarket before I took a can from the display and put it in the bin.

All this scurrying made me think about the folks who had talked to me weeks earlier about putting up a One Can A Week reminder sign as they came into Sprouts to shop. Those two displays Anthony built did just that but now they’re gone. With the large One Can A Week display in the exit aisle, we are back to no reminders again.

There are shelf talkers in the canned goods aisle but there is a lot going on with pricing stickers everywhere. Customers probably won’t pay much attention to them. Then it dawned on me. How about putting a shelf talker in the shopping basket? There’s no clutter there and it is a gentle reminder.

With my wicker collection basket under my arm—Richard does not want me to let the cash donations out of my sight—I walked over to the door and returned to the table with a shopping basket. The shelf talker looked great inside the basket. Then I took the basket over to Rosemary’s checkout line and showed it to her. Rosemary is my Sprouts idea sounding board. I get her opinion on everything I’m thinking before I make a presentation to Richard. She’s never wrong.

She loved the idea and suggested I put them on the shopping carts, too. I was going there eventually but Rosemary is quick to see all options.

A few minutes later Richard came by and I showed him the reminders and he really liked the idea. He could read the small sticker on the shopping cart but I suggested that it should be bigger because older folks like me would have trouble with legibility.

I had enough shelf talkers to decorate at least 15 shopping baskets. It will be fun to see if those few reminders increase donations in the food bin this week. Tomorrow I will order more stickers from Signs Now and ask them to help me create a shopping cart sign.

The best part about making all of these One Can A Week marketing discoveries is I’ll be ready to answer the call when Sprouts management decides to go ahead with the program in all 160 stores around the southwest.

On Saturday Ramón Valadez, Pima County Board of Supervisor, Chair, presented me and 29 other community minded folks this very handsome certificate of appreciation. He cited my work with the One Can A Week program.

I’d like to cite Council Member Richard Fimbres for recommending me to receive this award and encourage you to vote Tuesday, November 5^th for Richard, my friend, a very smart politician who gets it.

Every time my truck tells me something is amiss, I head for AutoZone to get a free reading. On Wednesday my battery warning light came on and it turned out the alternator was going on the fritz. Brake Masters would charge me $350 to fix everything. I decided to listen to my friends at AutoZone and buy thealternator for $104. This meant the Brake Masters bill would only be $79 to install the part and they would have my truck back on the road in 2.5 hours.

The guys at AutoZone spent some quality time helping me make the right decision. At the end of our conversation, Scott closed the hood and handed me $3.00. “I always wanted to donate and this is my first chance.”  

The moral of the story is when your car’s warning light comes on head to community minded AutoZone. It’ll save you heartache and lots of money.  

Dumpsters In The Hood

November 1 – 5, three FREE roll-offs will be in the Miles Neighborhood. Pitch most everything except tires and paint.

Locations:

1.  S. Martin Avenue between E. Miles Street & 13^th Street

2.  E. 12^th Street between S. Cherry Street and S. Vine Avenue (Old Red Cross parking lot)

3.  S. Cherry Street between 13^th Street & E. Manlove Street (Next to baseball field)

We collected a total of 173 lbs. of food. The money we donated amounted to $32.00, a $25.00 check and $7.00 in cash.

We collected a total of 173 lbs. of food. The money we donated amounted to $32.00, a $25.00 check and $7.0 in cash.

See you Sunday,

Peter