At the new Rogers Plus in Ottawa, you can sign up for high speed Internet, contemplate a new blackberry, and pick up the video release of that flick everyone’s talking about but you missed while it was still playing on the silver screen. The shop, which opened its doors mid-December, amasses together all of the cable, video and TV products and services from Toronto-based Rogers under one roof.

In total, there will be three pilot stores – numbers two and three will be unveiled in Toronto and Ottawa respectively this spring. If all goes well, and indeed the firm expects that it will, the format will be rolled out nationwide, says Chuck van der Lee, president and CEO of Richmond, B.C.-based Rogers Video, although he won’t divulge further details about expansion plans.

Does the Canadian retail landscape really need a Rogers Plus? According to the firm, customers were receptive to the idea. In a national survey conducted last summer, 82% of respondents said they would likely shop at a Rogers Plus store, based on how they were to be configured, and 66% said they would do so for the cross-shopping capabilities.

Convenience is the number-one determinant, points out van der Lee. ‘Rogers Plus offers the benefit of options – more choices to the consumer,’ he explains. ‘We are a trusted name in terms of packaged product and Rogers Cable is very much a trusted name in providing content via fibre optic cable. When you put [everything] together there’s a trust factor the customer has with us.’

One might think there would be cannibalization of video or DVD sales if digital cable – which includes movie packages – were available on nearby shelves, but van der Lee isn’t the least bit concerned. ‘At the end of the day, the home video customer is predisposed to watching movies on demand or pay per view. It’s the same consumer. There’s not a disconnect there at all. Our mission is to be Canada’s first choice in home entertainment.’

A portion of Rogers Video’s overall ad budget will be dedicated to supporting the new concept, although van der Lee won’t specify how much. While still in the planning stages, advertising will include direct mail, print, radio and likely TV.

The tendency for retailers to hook up with others in an attempt to provide more goods and services to shoppers isn’t a novel one, but it is a trend that is gaining steam, says Adrienne Goddard, a retail consultant with Toronto-based Kubas Consultants. ‘There are obvious synergies between certain retailers and it’s beneficial for them to share rent and operational expenses, but they can also increase revenues and sales by partnering up,’ she says, adding that recently the inclination has been to combine services with merchandise. ‘ For example, a lot of retailers are putting coffee houses into their stores. That’s a great way to keep people in the stores longer.’

Toronto-based Hallmark is one such example. It has been opening combination locations in collaboration with Laura Secord since 1994; its biggest yet, measuring 4,500 square feet, was unveiled (at the corner of Bayview Avenue and Major Mackenzie Drive) in north Toronto last month. In all there are about 19 units, with the bulk (12) in Ontario. The rest are dispersed between Quebec, Alberta and B.C. About half of these shops include a café, where husbands can sip coffee and kids can enjoy ice cream, while mom browses for the perfect greeting card.

Originally, in the mid-’90s, Hallmark was looking to expand outside of its traditional mall format, to plazas and power centers, which meant a retail space of at least 2,000 square feet was necessary. That is what led to co-operation with Laura Secord, explains Debbie Sreiberg, national account manager, who says there are plans to add another 12 to 20 combo stores in the next two to four years.

Naturally, boxes of chocolates complement the greeting card business, so it was a logical fit. But the alliance also enabled both retailers to leverage one another’s different strengths. ‘What the [café] does for us, particularly in a strip or a regular mall, is it brings in a younger consumer,’ says Roger Baranowski, SVP, marketing and sales for Hallmark. ‘Teens wouldn’t go into a card shop normally but ice cream [may draw them]. This broadens our target market because we feed off Laura Secord’s customers and vice versa.’

Adds Sreiberg: ‘In Quebec, they have a fondness for chocolates, so it’s an opportunity for us to get a higher profile for our greeting cards, while in the West, where chocolatier Purdy’s [is strong], it gives Laura Secord a name.’

Marketing for the combo shops occurs mainly on a local basis, although Hallmark ensures that any nationally advertised products are available in these units too, so as not to dismay consumers searching for a spotlighted item. A lot of the stores sponsor community sports squads, and host a ‘family fun day’ every spring, welcoming moms and tykes in to take advantage of various activities, such as colouring contests, and scooping out free ice cream. ‘We want to reward existing customers and give back to the community,’ says Sreiberg.

So far the shops have surpassed expectations, according to Baranowski, with sales pretty much evenly split between the two brands, with a slight edge to Hallmark during certain seasons.

Laura Secord isn’t the only company to have a relationship with Hallmark. Canada Post also displays the greeting cards in its units across Canada, as part of its drive to facilitate a one-stop shopping experience.

This objective is particularly evident in its Station K location, the new incarnation of which was introduced in Toronto this fall. Sandra Sanderson, GM of brand marketing for Ottawa-based Canada Post, says Station K is a test, but it is also symbolic of a repositioning at Canada Post to become the ‘from…to’ company, as well as its resolution to zero in on a specific demographic – mainly females, who are under the age of 34 and have young children.

Canada Post’s new brand characteristics are ‘bold, caring, innovative, trustworthy and effective.’ Since ‘the retail channel is the most visible expression of a brand,’ according to Sanderson, Station K has been designed with a lot of red accents to convey boldness, wood to suggest trustworthiness, and curves to imply caring. ‘We believe our target segment has the highest potential to drive revenue and profitability for Canada Post. Station K is one of our efforts to appeal to them.’

Along with greeting cards, the store stocks stationery, fine writing instruments and collectibles; offers banking and government services, such as passport photos; and houses a community access program kiosk where patrons can get free Internet access. Meanwhile, little people can colour or check out books in the Kids Zone, while mom completes her errands.

A direct mail piece, sent to 7,000 homes in the vicinity of Station K (in the fairly up-scale Yonge and Eglinton neighbourhood), described the new format, and invited consumers to the shop, where they could also enter contests to win various prizes from other local shops, such as Restoration Hardware and Beddington’s. Canada Post also built a database through this program – the DM piece had a 4% redemption rate – and will continue to communicate with members in future marketing endeavours.

Sanderson says Canada Post would consider adding other elements to the retail environment, but she stresses that all offerings must be relevant to the firm’s core business.

That’s a wise requirement, according to consultant Goddard, who believes retailers should carefully consider with whom they enter alliances. ‘It has to be planned out well,’ she says. ‘If for any reason they aren’t getting along, or retail strategies are different, or operationally they’re different, it could spell trouble and you can wind up doing more harm than good.’

For example, while Hallmark and Laura Secord are both exclusive, specialty brands, collaboration between the greeting card company and Neilson chocolates might not make as much sense, even if Neilson manufactured special packages of sweets for the combo stores. ‘If they used Neilson, which is known mainly for its chocolate bars, it could damage the level of quality that’s perceived by the customer,’ points out Goddard. And that would make any operational savings futile.