Retailers, Brands Celebrate Solar Eclipse
National and specialty brands as well as retailers across the U.S. are preparing for the total solar eclipse on Monday, April 8 in myriad ways.
Wegmans said it will close its stores located in the path of totality of the eclipse for 30 minutes, starting next Monday at 3 p.m. so that employees may view the event.
“The opportunity to experience a total solar eclipse comes once in a lifetime, and we don’t want our employees to miss out,” said Patrick Bourcy, Wegmans regional manager, in a statement. “We appreciate all that our employees do to help our customers prepare for and enjoy events like this, and in return, we welcome the opportunity to make this a celebratory and memorable occasion for them.”
Brands are also leveraging the event as a marketing opportunity. 7-Eleven will be giving away solar eclipse viewing glasses when consumers purchase items between April 4 and 8. The retailer is also offering a $3 pizza to 7Now Gold Pass subscribers.
"At 7-Eleven, we're proud to be there for our customers through every occasion, both big and small–which includes remarkable moments like a total eclipse," said Marissa Jarratt, EVP and chief marketing and sustainability officer at 7-Eleven, in a statement.
Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams will commemorate the event with the limited-edition release of four space-themed flavors. The Punk Stargonaut ice cream collection includes Nebula Berry, Cosmic Bloom, Purple Star Born, and Supermoon flavored ice creams as well as a popping candy topping called Space Dust.
Snack company Ballreich’s Foods has released Eclipse Chipse, a white cheddar and black pepper flavored chip packaged in a bag that shows the moon passing in front of the sun. Additionally, chocolate company Laughing Gull Chocolates has a devoted webpage of space-themed chocolate offerings, including chocolate depicting the eclipse, and a dark and white chocolate called Celestial Bark.
National brand SunChips has released the Solar Eclipse Limited-Edition Pineapple Habanero and Black Bean Spicy Gouda chips. The product, created in partnership with astronaut Kellie Gerardi, will only be available for the "4 minutes and 27 seconds of the solar eclipse's duration of totality," according to a statement from the company.
On the foodservice side, Sonic and Smoothie King debuted frozen beverages inspired by the event. Sonic’s Blackout Slush Float includes a special flavored slush, vanilla ice cream, and blue and purple sprinkles. Smoothie King’s offering, the Eclipse Berry Blitz smoothie, incorporates bananas, wild blueberries, apples, blueberry juice blend, grape lemon juice blend, protein blend, and spirulina, according to local news source Kiss 95.1 FM.