PhillyInc

The Arkansas-based retailing behemoth said yesterday it plans to test-market a new line of “Bible action figures” starting in August for customers who prefer Samson over Spidey. (That's our cutsie line and we're sticking to it. AP picks on the Bratz dolls. USAToday went for the Spiderman contrast, too, and even created a photo slideshow. Who needs an ad budget with all this publicity?). Wal-Mart bloggers on Writing on the Wal ridicules anybody who would pay for a Bible, much less a doll. But MediaPost notes that it's just part of a larger marketing trend.

To us, this actually provides an interesting insight into our own regional market and demographics compared to the rest of the Northeast, courtesy of Wal-Mart's sales and market research department. Spokeswoman Melissa O’Brien told PhillyInc that of the 425 stores in the test-marketing campaign, most are in the South and West, although 25 are scattered around Pennsylvania. (See list below). Interestingly, she confirms that none is farther northeast than a store in Easton, Pa. or one on Roosevelt Boulevard in Philadelphia. That stops short of New Jersey, skips Delaware and goes nowhere near NYC, thus avoiding most of the Northeast, one of the nation’s most populous regions. Sure, Wal-Mart has fewer stores in this region to start with. But still, it does illustrate something about Northeasterners, Pennsylvanians and Jerseyans.

Says O’Brien: “This is an initial test. It doesn’t mean there are more faith-based communities in those areas. But we know that these products sell well in these stores. ... These are stores we selected based on their demographcis to see how they test.”

O'Brien goes on: "A lot of the test-market stores are where we’ve seen patterns of faith-based products selling well. They are concentrated where we have business with churches in the area as well. That’s not to say all (locations) are like that. We have a program called Store of the Community. ... We look at products to see if they are tailored to the commuity. This falls under that program, and this is the first time we are carrying a line of faith-based toys. We have sold them at certain times before, around Easter ... but this is taking those locations and using them as an initial test market."

- Thomas Ginsberg