Throwback Thursday: Inflation fighters
The Jan. 13 ,1975 issue of National Home Center News—the historic vol. 1, no. 1 premier of the forerunner of HBSDealer—covered a timely topic for the mid-seventies: inflation.
Under the headline "Home Center ads stressing inflation-fighting campaign," there's Stan Abramson and Bob Rickel with a poster announcing the New Jersey-based home center's price-freeze campaign.
Abramson was chairman of Supermarkets General, the parent company of South Plainfield, N.J.-based Rickel's. Bob Rickel was president of the home center chain. The home center announced a 50,000-item two-month price freeze in all 16 of its stores "to help you Whip Inflation Now."
The first paragraph of the article states: "As inflation continues to crimp consumer spending, more home centers are stressing an economy image in their advertising campaigns."
Rickel's was not alone in its effort to promote savings. Scotty's cut prices on 150 basic building materials and home-improvement products. Plywood Minnesota, it was reported, warned that it would drop suppliers guilty of excessive price hikes.
"At no other time have consumers been so sensitive to price and so concerned about value," said Rudy Boschwitz, president of Plywood Minnesota. "As a result, every marketing program must focus on money-saving promotions."
"Whip Inflation Now" was a program embraced by the Ford Administration to rally Americans around anti-inflationary behavior. "WIN" buttons worn by citizens eager to show their enthusiasm for fighting inflation were part of the public relations effort. The campaign, however, had limited success.