Fujitsu pops down to Safeway in search of consumer sales

Safeway supermarkets started selling Fujitsu computers at the weekend, its first dabble into the PC arena. Fujitsu multimedia Pentium III 450MHz computers are in 25 supermarkets at £899.99 including VAT. The pilot scheme will be expanded to other Safeway stores later this year. The PC has 128MB SDRAM, 10Gb hard drive, 56.6k internal modem and Fujitsu 15" digital TCO 95 monitor. Software includes Windows 98. "We are continuing with our strategy to find new channels to market for the consumer," said Frank O'Brien, Fujitsu sales director. No figures were available for the weekend's sales, but O'Brien said the Japanese vendor's sales through other supermarkets had been successful. Fujitsu has sold its PCs in Tesco supermarkets since last July, and in Sainsbury's for the last two months. 260 Tesco and 50 Sainsbury?s are involved in the scheme, as well as 13 Savacentres - Sainsbury's non-food outlet. O'Brien said Fujitsu was interested in around 200 Safeway supermarkets, and this nationwide scheme should be in place for the back-to-school rush in September. This is the first time Safeway has sold PCs. Alex Holt, Safeway category buying manager, said the supermarket chain was always looking out for new product lines. ®