The CPG Industry appears, once again, to be focused on in store execution and compliance. Mantras like the In-Store Implementation Network’s Plan-Do-Measure can be heard by numerous groups. Some experts opine that measuring and managing at the store level is the best way increase sales dollars. Others seem to think actually understanding issues at the store level is too large a task to undertake and it remains on the “too hard” pile.
We thought it appropriate time to chat with an Industry Icon who is as responsible for modern day category and space management as any other industry figure, Ted Gladson. Ted has roamed stores for five decades and has witnessed many changes over the years, playing an important part in many of the positive changes.
Service – One Store at Time
Armed with a glassine sheet, a grease pen, a Polaroid camera and a vivid imagination, Ted helped pioneer the process known today as Space Management. One store at a time, Ted walked into pharmacies all across America. First, he took a Polaroid image of the shelf to memorialize what the store had in place. Then he sat down with a calculator and sales reports to lay out the retailer’s shelf based on what he thought the customer would view as a logical and easy-to-shop pattern. Ted gave preference in both shelf position and facings to the brands and items most popular with those consumers. When he was done perfecting his new shelf design, Ted would reset the section for the owner and then he took another picture to capture the desired set . . . in order to publish it to his sales force. Ted employed his skill for perfecting product placement and created shelfsets designed to improve the customer’s purchase experience and increase the retailer’s revenue – one store at a time.After years of proving the very substantial ROI that both retailers and manufacturer could achieve from these practices, Ted left the corporate world to found Gladson Interactive. Ted would run Gladson from 1971 until he sold the firm in late 2005.
Industry Leader and Icon