“It definitely starts with our people and our culture — and that starts from the top," said Patrick Arnold, DLM vice president of marketing and IT. “Our owners are very generous — they treat us all like family. We look after each other. We love working here. And I think it shows in the customer service we provide at the end of the day."
Credit: Nick Graham
Credit: Nick Graham
With the Aug. 20 opening of its Mason store, Club DLM program organizers feel the timing is perfect to reiterate the importance of it.
“We love to share good food with our friends and neighbors and the (Club DLM) card in particular lets us reward our most loyal customers,” Arnold said. “A traditional supermarket would spend roughly 2 percent of sales on advertising — through billboards, TV, mass media. We made a choice in the mid-’90s to keep that money in-house and turn it into savings instead for our top customers."
One major incentive for signing up for the Club DLM card: it’s free. More than 10,000 new households have signed up since the Mason location opened.
“It’s completely complimentary. It’s how you save money with so many of the products that we carry that are on sale,” said Jessie Kuhn, DLM marketing director. “You can also earn points while you shop. And with those points, you can access club rewards which are even greater savings.”
Credit: Nick Graham
Credit: Nick Graham
EXCLUSIVE PRICING
Club DLM members can use their bonus points to enjoy member-exclusive pricing on a variety of items from whole rotisserie chicken and natural spring water to Naples-style pizza and Graeter’s ice cream. In particular for 12,000 points, club members can receive $100 off a DLM food tour.
Members earn one point for every $2 spent when they use their card. There are also opportunities to earn exclusive coupons and early access to event tickets among other perks.
WEEKLY ADS
Every week DLM provides a list of club deals in which members can use their Club DLM card to save on hundreds of items throughout the store. The weekly ad also highlights seasonal and featured rewards.
“In our weekly ad, we feature what should be on people’s tables that week — what’s fresh, what’s local and what’s delicious,“ Kuhn said.
GOOD NEIGHBOR PROGRAM
The DLM Good Neighbor Program is a community-centric endeavor resulting in thousands of dollars to numerous local nonprofit organizations over the years. Club DLM members can choose how the money is distributed using their card.
“This is a throwback to when customers would keep and turn in their receipts at the end of the year and a percent of sales would be donated to a nonprofit,” Arnold said. “This is a modern version of that.”
Members can choose an organization from a list of participating charities to have their purchases credited. Every time they shop and their Club DLM card is scanned, their chosen nonprofit organization is “credited” with the purchase.
At the end of the year participating charities that meet a minimum threshold of activity will receive a pro-rated portion of the total $50,000, depending on the amount spent by participating customers with a Club DLM card.
“When we look at how that donation is dispersed, it’s ultimately decided by our club card holders,” Kuhn said. “It’s amazing. It means so much to our customers but also the wonderful organizations in our community.”
NOTIFICATION OF RECALLS
Kuhn said members will be contacted if there are products that have been recalled.
“We encourage customers to scan their Club DLM card with each transaction not only to earn points and access sale pricing, but if there is ever a recall on a product that they’ve purchased, we will let the customer know,” she said.
Credit: DOROTHY LANE MARKET
Credit: DOROTHY LANE MARKET
LOST KEYS? NO WORRIES
On the back of the Club DLM key fob it states that, if found, keys can be dropped in a mailbox and returned to DLM.
“This has long been on the back of Club cards and was intended to be there in the event that a customer loses their keys,” Kuhn said.
This spring a member had his keys returned by way of Tennessee and Utah.
“We had a gentleman from Utah reach out to us because he found a set of keys in the backseat of an Uber he was riding in when in Nashville,” Kuhn recalled. “The Uber driver wasn’t sure who they came from nor how to return them, so the passenger saw the Club DLM key fob on the set and decided to figure out how to reunite the keys with their owner. After returning home to Utah, the keys were then mailed to us at DLM.”
DLM Washington Square Store Director Jerry Post looked up the owner through the Club card on the key set. The owner was contacted and ultimately reunited with their keys.
For more information about Dorothy Lane Market and the Club DLM card, visit DorothyLane.com/ClubDLM.
UTILITY CONTENT
This information is provided as free utility content from the Dayton Daily News , Journal-News and Springfield News Sun. It is intended to illuminate various aspects of daily living. Have a story suggestion? Contact Russell Florence Jr. at Russell.Florence@coxinc.com.
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