My Healthy Church leaders see ‘big opportunity’ for retailers

Retailers had an opportunity to learn how to expand their customer base and increase traffic and sales during a special workshop at June’s International Christian Retail Show (ICRS) at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta. Fred Ichniowski, senior sales director, and Roberto Cortez, associate, both with My Healthy Church, led the “Attracting Hispanics to Your Store” workshop.

Cortez greeted the attendees in Spanish to help stress the importance of knowing the Hispanic customer base, being able to communicate with them and the value of forging relationships in the community.

Cortez encouraged retailers to make their Spanish-language product easy to find.

“If you have Hispanic product, flaunt it,” Cortez said. “You have the products they need.”

The presenters also addressed communication, marketing investments, advertising and the resources that are helpful in reaching Hispanic customers, such as Spanish-language cable television.

“As a retailer, every customer that walks into the store is an opportunity to make a sale, and the more sales you generate, the better off you’ll be as a retailer,” Cortez said.

“I’ve been involved in the CBA industry for over 20 years, and this has been the biggest opportunity that has been untapped in the industry,” Ichniowski said. “Over the past five years, it has expanded dramatically, and it will continue to expand.”

This is “The Big Opportunity” to reach a demographic that’s not being reached right now, Ichniowski said.

Participants from among the several-dozen retailers in attendance asked questions from a retail and ministry standpoint such as, “What is the future?” and “How are we able to tap into [the Spanish market]?”

“I think the industry as a whole needs to open their eyes and wake up to the opportunity that the fastest-growing segment of our society is in the Hispanic community, and that those folks are looking to be served, and inside that community, building relationships is the most important thing,” Ichniowski noted.

“If Hispanics see they matter to you, they will shop your store,” Cortez said.

The presenters also shared beneficial data, including a 2012 Nielson report that said: “Any company that wants to develop and grow in the United States has to attract the Hispanic consumer. It’s a must.” —Ginny McCabe

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