California company bags deal to roll out to indie corner stores

July 6, 2009 by Dave Haynes

Another company has surfaced as a player in the race to grab the screen space in US convenience stores, though this latest one is taking an interesting angle.

A company called Clear TV has bagged a deal to install 2,000-plus stores in the Neighborhood Market Association (NMA) for in-store marketing and advertising.

“Neighborhood Market Association is proud to announce our partnership with Clear TV Inc.,” says Mark Arabo, president & CEO of the La Mesa, Calif.-based association, in a letter, as related on the DSE site. “Having signed a contract with NMA on May 28, 2009, Clear TV will be installing and operating digital signage, at the point of purchase, at all of Neighborhood Market Association member stores.”

“We offer our members 15 money-saving programs, and out of all of them, we are most excited about this one,” he added.

The Neighborhood Market Association (NMA) is the largest non-profit retail trade association in California, representing more than 2,000 independent retail members throughout California, Nevada and Arizona.

So these are all the ma and pa corner grocers and c-stores in the region. For those of us up here among the polar bears, the parallel would be the Korean Businessmen’s Association, which has some 1,500 independent variety stores in Ontario and a deal to put in screens with a small Toronto company called Artcube Media.

It’s not clear from the rather minimalist Clear TV website how the network is money-saving.

The challenge in working with these independent stores  can be pretty much summed up like this: zero uniformity. In a 7-11, there’s a bit of a store plan that covers the chain. With independents, the installer guys are starting from scratch pretty much store by store.  

“We are very excited about the opportunity to provide information, education, and effective and efficient advertising to the consumer,” said Ben Remez, president & CEO of Winnetka Calif.-based Clear TV. “It is a huge step forward for NMA, Clear TV, potential advertisers and the consumer.”

The company plans to start installing San Diego and Lost Wages this month, with aspirations of doing the rest by year’s end. That will undoubtedly depend on the success of ad sales. Initially, they plan to do 100-plus in each of the two cities.

If Clear is able to bang out sites, it’s a nice win for LA-based UCView Media, which is providing the software platform.