BC Hydro Power Smart Awards & Forum » Retailer of the Year

RETAILER OF THE YEAR

Trail Appliances got in on the ground floor—and then moved up to the top. In the summer of 2007, Trail partnered with BC Hydro to design the ENERGY STAR Appliance Rebate Program. Trail and BC Hydro then created a pilot appliance promotion for Power Smart Month in October. With the support of Whirlpool and KitchenAid, Trail offered a month-long sale on select ENERGY STAR washers, dishwashers and refrigerators.Trail’s advertising campaign for the promotion included over half a million flyer mail-outs, full-page newspaper ads, and radio commercials on four stations. In-store point-of-purchase posters and price tags were also used. Trail motivated their staff by conducting training and offering them an incentive. Together with Whirlpool and BC Hydro, Trail provided prize packages for customers who joined Team Power Smart. Thanks to these efforts, October sales of ENERGY STAR appliances experienced double-digit growth.

As an environmentally responsible retailer, Trail has developed many “green” initiatives, including a recycling service for customers’ old appliances.

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As one of B.C.’s largest retailers, Costco Wholesale has the potential to be a major influence in the energy-efficient products marketplace. In the fall 2007 lighting campaign, they fulfilled that potential. By bringing in large numbers of ENERGY STAR® lighting products, combined with aggressive marketing and promotion, Costco achieved some of the best sales results of any participating retailer in the province. Now Costco is continuing the momentum by becoming the first retailer to promote BC Hydro’s ENERGY STAR Appliance Rebate Program.

In BC Hydro’s 2007 ENERGY STAR lighting campaigns, RONA was one of the first B.C. retailers to participate in Power Smart product buy-downs, which offered consumers instant lower prices on energy-efficient products. And there were plenty of products on offer, as RONA stocked dozens of different specialized ENERGY STAR compact fluorescent light bulbs and light fixtures. By creating point-of-purchase materials tailored to their own stores and hosting in-store Power Smart events, RONA showed innovation and commitment on the marketing side as well.