Apr 26
We are honoured that Home Depot has just approved the introduction of a 1000+ Stain Remover brochure that has been modified to reflect the Home Depot store environment, for their use specifically. This new item will be printed and distributed in Canada starting in May. As per the recently filed Annual Report, a Modified Strategic …
Feb 19
We are glad to see our first re-order of 1000+ Stain Remover by Guam Home Center, in the Western Pacific, has been delivered. These are still small quantities, but it is terrific to see 1000+ finding its way into homes in such diverse places in the world. A replenishment order is particularly satisfying.
Feb 06
We occasionally receive confirmation that freight forwarders have completed small shipments of 1000+ Stain Remover by distributors to places that we have not heard of, with small populations and diverse lifestyles. The latest is the remote Island of Saba in the Caribbean. It is proof again that wherever people live, 1000+ has a clean-up contribution to make! Thank …
Feb 06
In January 2013, 26 additional Do it Best locations took delivery of 1000+ Stain Remover for the first time. This puts us into 877 locations. We receive a number of positive product anecdotes during our Customer Service follow-up calls. We will have the opportunity to meet Do it Best members and their ACE and True Value peers, as well as other …
Jan 15
A shareholder was pleased to discover 1000+ Stain Remover in an art supply store yesterday and sent these pictures for our interest. We thank our shareholder for the initiative.
Jan 03
In December, 22 additional Do it Best locations took delivery of 1000+ Stain Remover for the first time. This puts us into 851 locations, or approximately 20% of that organization’s affiliated stores. We are receiving good feedback both about the product and about the kind of company that we are to deal with. There is …
Dec 19
A scene today from a Home Depot store in Canada that proves the point that the human spirit finds ways to express itself in every setting. I have no doubt that there was a “real person” behind the simple initiative of making up some “Stocking Stuffer” cut-outs and sticking them on these boxes. I don’t …
Dec 08
Winning Brands welcomes Oil & Gas Equipment Corporation as a new retailer of 1000+ Stain Remover. The New Mexico location now has product on hand. The focus by this retailer on the interests of people in the oil and gas exploration sector is strategically helpful to Winning Brands. This focus projects 1000+ Stain Remover into an area …
Dec 06
A Winning Brands Field Visit today found a Walmart store in the Niagara region that expanded their “double double” shelf presence for 1000+ Stain Remover to include an end-cap presence as well. As a relative newcommer to the store, it is an honour for 1000+ to join a number of well established products here. The price for all the available 1000+ was $9.77. …
Dec 02
A shareholder was in a national banner store in Canada today and sent a few pictures when he saw 1000+ in the store. Thank you. The pictures illustrate why our future looks good. We have found that whenever store staff discover our product’s usefulness for themselves, then 1000+ starts gaining a larger footprint, and expands into places within the store where …
Nov 16
The Home Depot confirms that 1000+ Stain Remover online orders at www.HomeDepot.com are back on stream to California and Oregon addresses. State recycling fee issue has been resolved in the order entry procedure. Consumers in all U.S. mainland states have online access again. Landing Page: http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1v/R-202661295/h_d2/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10053&langId=-1&keyword=1000%2B+Stain+Remover&storeId=10051 We thank The Home Depot for their rapid, professional …
Nov 02
I received an enquiry from a shareholder this morning asking me to confirm whether 1000+ Stain Remover at Walmart is still a regularly priced item, because of comments he read in a discussion forum that the product shows up as discounted. The photograph below was taken at a different Walmart today. It shows 1000+ Stain Remover at …
Oct 17
A point of interest about our bottles for shareholders who are most familiar with 1000+ Stain Remover. Historically, HDPE bottles containing 1000+ would eventually acquire a panelled surface as a result of the combination of effects between the contents and the plastic. Shareholders who are most familiar with the product have wondered about that. It was …
Oct 06
We are being approached more than ever by stores to participate in local marketing as word spreads that Winning Brands is good to work with and responsive to initiative. There are tens of thousands of hardware stores in North America where 1000+ Stain Remover will fit perfectly into the product mix and foster long term relationships (with stores …
Jul 03
As best as we can determine, 1000+ is now available at 659 Do it Best stores. Two key metrics are improving; the proportion of those stores who are re-ordering and the trend of the total number of bottles taken by those stores per month. Re-orders are key because they only occur if product is moving or if consumer feedback is good. …
Apr 13
A shareholder was in Walmart (Canada) today. He sent this photo because he was glad to see 1000+ on the shelves with such a hefty presence. We thank Walmart deeply for letting their shoppers discover how useful 1000+ Stain Remover is.
Mar 29
We are delighted to have received our first replenishment order today from Duane Reade, equal to the entire amount originally delivered. Although we cannot reveal our retailer’s exact numbers, it would appear that a few thousand New Yorkers are now using the 1000+ Stain Remover 4 oz ”Handy Size”.
Mar 27
As a follow-through from our debut at Sam’s Club Road Show in Q4 2011, our first 2012 event concluded this weekend in Houston. The end-of-aisle demonstration station is now called an Event Showcase, rather than Road Show. As a marketing test, we chose a single 11-day stretch rather than several sequential 4-day events. Our finding is that the …
Mar 10
I saw my first 1000+ Stain Remover 4L size on a retailer’s shelf today; Home Hardware. This is the chain that is putting the 4L SKU into their Professional Products catalogue this summer (Reference: post January 31, 2012). The 909 mL bottles are available on the next shelf. Additional pictures show other places in this store where …
Feb 10
First time for Winning Brands to be given an endcap position at Walmart. This location was just installed. Much appreciated.
Jan 26
A shareholder was carrying out some due diligence as to whether our product really was in their local Walmart (in Canada). He found our product and discovered that it had an excellent shelf presence with 3 facings in this outlet. He counted the number of bottles (including those pushed to the very back of the …
Jan 21
Thank you, Browne’s Home Center! http://www.browneshomecenter.com/ As we focus in 2012 on increasing the success of our existing retailers with 1000+ Stain Remover, we are seeking collaboration with these stores to boost the presence of 1000+ in their websites. Browne’s Home Center just added us today, as an example. When we achieve effective partnership with thousands …
Jan 17
Benjamin Moore Canada announced their new alliance with Canadian Tire launching in the spring of 2012. Canadian Tire is a very large retailer selling general merchandise across the country. They have created a paint specifically for them: Origins by Benjamin Moore. It will be available in both interior and exterior finishes and have about 500 …
Jan 03
We are delighted with today’s confirmation that SAM’s Club is re-designating the Roadshow program into Showcase Events, across the chain. It better reflects the character of the experience for both shopper and vendor. This is the venue in which Winning Brands participated in 5 Houston, Texas tests of the 1000+ Stain Remover Value Pack. Scheduling for 1000+ Stain Remover’s return …
Dec 28
We have received permission for the first time to conduct in-store demonstration of 1000+ Stain Remover in the grocery store environment. Our partner for this purpose will be the Spartan Group, with a number of banners, such as Family Fare. Details are being worked out now as to the specific location and date for a …
Dec 23
Inspecting the 1000+ display in two stores tonight revealed an encouraging fact. Despite appearing in store flyers for occasional specials, the MSRP of $9-$10 per bottle is still a realistic price point in big box retailers. This photo, taken tonight, shows that in this instance $9.97 was being honoured, and being recognized as good value by …
Dec 15
Discussions with each Winning Brands NYC Store Ambassador includes a review of their experiences with shoppers in this setting. Are shoppers interested, and if so, in what features and benefits of 1000+ particularly? How is the price point? To which product would 1000+ be compared here? The journey of developing a brand is informed by such findings …
Dec 13
Began evaluating the performance of our in-store hospitality operations and shelf position of 1000+ Stain Remover, at Duane Reade outlets in NYC today. The location above shows how well New York’s pre-eminent drug store chain has found location niches. Winning Brands Store Ambassadors started this weekend and are continuing to Friday. Our early week audit is best …
Dec 05
Our prototype 1/4 pallet display concept has been approved by one of our national retailers in Canada for activation in Q2, for a nice long promotional period, in the aisle. This aisle presence will be a great help. This is a tremendous step for the 1000+ brand, Winning Brands corporately and our retail partner.
Nov 23
It has been confirmed that 1000+ Stain Remover has earned a place again in an upcoming national flyer at Canadian Tire during December 2011. Any Canadian shareholder knows what an honour this is for a consumer product. The flyer is almost a “national institution” – many households refer to it. To be in this flyer is as symbolic of …
Nov 22
The Chrysler Building location of Duane Reade has joined the list for special promotion of 1000+ Stain Remover. Our Brand Ambassador has been invited to spend 4 hours providing staff and customer orientation week of December 10-16th. Pictures below.
Nov 19
It’s an honour to be invited back to a national big box store location by the Manager because he enjoys doing business with Winning Brands, and tells you so. More locations of our retail partners are inviting Winning Brands, on their own initiative, to return for more promotional work, together. Today, the Manager of this location, set the …
Nov 18
To help you meet additional members of the team, Monique Craft is shown here, pausing between demonstrations that the Beach Builders Home Hardware, during a Ladies Night a few days ago. It’s interesting how often the Ladies Nights come up as the basis of a special event in the independent hardware sector. We have participated …
Nov 16
…walking along the aisle of a Home Depot on an errand and found a very nice improvised display, by surprise. I mentioned to the cashier that I’m with the company which makes 1000+ Stain Remover – and she became quite animated, telling me that the product does well in her store. It’s a real pleasure …
Nov 13
Photo from a stakeholder, today. A Canadian outlet of a North American retailer is apparently meeting its display needs on a custom basis, and we have been honoured with a place in that display for now. We have been seeing increasing evidence of local initiative within large retailers, whereby local staff seek to balance corporate policy with local desire …
Nov 13
Report in tonight from the field: $564.48 through the till for our retailer, today, in the one test location. We believe that this is a new record at checkout for 1000+ for a single store in a single day. It is not realistic to project this volume through all 600 stores in this chain on …
Nov 06
The Home Depot store in Parry Sound, Ontario set a record of 1000+ Stain Remover bottles sold in a single day - 39 transactions yesterday, through an in-store promotion of their own design. The significance of this record by Home Depot for 1000+ is both that it arises from the initiative of the local Home Depot staff themselves and that their leader …
Nov 04
Robert is finding that the remarkable value of 1000+ Stain Remover as a multi-cleaner when diluted with water in a spray bottle continues to strike a chord with people to whom he demonstrates. Again today in Houston, a shopper on her own accord said “…Oh, I’d better take two.” That’s a $53.76 transaction. She was …
Nov 02
Preparations are underway for the 50-store promotion in Duane Reade’s busiest locations to start December 10th with the theme of being ready for Holiday Stains. We are developing tools and protocol for a team of Brand Ambassadors; New Yorkers who, many of them, live in the areas close to the stores. Below is the Duane Reade at 95 …
Nov 02
Opportunities are growing for us to have impromptu displays in hardware retailers for the 909 mL bottle, where a permanent rack is not feasible for a number of reasons. Accordingly, Winning Brands is converting its case packaging into display modules, ready for use at any location as a display tower, pallet, counter, end-of-aisle, etc. Below …
Oct 30
You never know whom you are going to meet on a given day. Extract from Robert a few hours ago: Had a very interesting conversation with a man named _______ who worked for _______ (oil company) in Saudi Arabia. Said he would email me to talk about a bulk order. He said… “maybe I’ll buy a container …
Oct 28
New testimonial today from Sam’s Club – forklift operator noticed, on his own initiative, that 1000+ Stain Remover was able to get rid of marks on his equipment that the other cleaning solution that he had been using does not. He cleaned the left side of his unit shown below with 1000+, leaving the right side for comparison. …
Oct 27
I have to hand it to Robert. How’s this for creativity? The location of the (smaller) display in this particular Sam’s Club prevented use of our 8 ft wide banner, our second pallet as a surface to put things on and even our demonstration table – so the improvisation begins. The brilliant simplicity of the before/after moment created by putting …
Oct 27
This camera phone picture was taken today by a friend of 1000+ Stain Remover in an Ontario store which had our DVD demonstration loop running on two overhead TVs close to the entrance. The TVs were ceiling mounted. Thank you, Canadian Tire, for fostering the growth of awareness for 1000+. The video that is playing in this …
Oct 27
The second location became operational today, but was shifted by the store to different type of floor space internally that could only accommodate a single pallet for today (without demonstration table), and without overhead structure to hang the 8ft wide banner. These early days at Sam’s Club are about establishing the different individual club variants into the “system” for the purpose …
Oct 19
Our Customer Service Desk received an interesting call today from a Canadian employee of a retailer that has stores in Canada & USA. The call was not from the Paint Department, but rather the Tool Rental Department. Apparently, they have been noticing good results with 1000+ Stain Remover in connection with their rental of carpet steam cleaners. He was …
Sep 27
1000+ Stain Remover Information and Demonstration Desk at a Home Depot location in Canada this past weekend (September 24th). We appreciate the opportunity to work with retailers and take our responsibility seriously to enhance the consumer’s shopping experience, while still observing the policies of the host environment. Being permitted to demonstrate in this environment is not automatic, it …
Sep 15
1000+ Stain Remover Demonstrator, Marlene, was at a large Home Depot store in Toronto on Saturday. She reported: “The paint staff were very familiar with the product and the demo table and rack had all been set up by the staff. ( ”X” ) in the Paint Dept sent over a customer who had two partial cans of …
May 26
Just arrived – going into service – the Winning Brands Mini-Display. Small enough to fit into so many nooks of any store, yet big impact of its simple message to get the point across. 100 of the durable new Mini Displays have now been manufactured and are ready for deployment. Our goal is that this …
