Challenge
Family Dollar was in need of a display for their pre-paid phone merchandise and accessories in approximately 5,000 stores nationwide. They required the fixture to be designed in a low-cost, yet sturdy manner to prevent theft of the high-demand merchandise. They also needed the display to have a straightforward design to allow for easy assembly by store personnel with little hardware. Finally, Family Dollar required that the fixture’s freight costs be kept to a minimum to uphold their mission of offering consumers convenience and low prices. 

Solution
The Nu-Era Group helped design a unit that addressed all three challenges. The overall design was conceived with simplicity at its core and assembled in four easy steps with little hardware. Using only two bolts, the display is easily assembled on site by staff. Family Dollar required that the fixture be low-cost, but sturdy enough to deter theft. They already had in place special display hooks requiring a cashier’s assistance to remove items, however, theft became a growing problem as entire hooks were being ripped from particle board in existing fixtures. Nu-Era and Family Dollar designed the straightforward unit with wood as the primary material, but used metal for the central component that held the merchandise, preventing hooks from being removed and adding cost savings.

The display was designed to ship flat from overseas, saving significant freight charges. Once the materials reached Nu-Era’s St. Louis facilities, further freight dollars were saved by combining shipments of the fixtures and all accompanying accessories to Family Dollar’s nine distribution centers. From the PO creation to delivery, Nu-Era completed the initial rollout of the program in 12 weeks.