Stephanie Acocella was thrilled when she found out Rainbow Foods planned to try out unlimited double coupons, a cash-saving phenomenon that had yet to reach the Twin Cities.
So excited, in fact, that she's taking the day off work Wednesday to be at the front of the line when the promotion begins.
"I'll be there when the doors open at 6 a.m. with about 50 coupons, organized by store layout," said the 26-year-old from Apple Valley.
Deals in which supermarkets double the value of coupons, sometimes for a limited time, took off in popularity over the past two to three years with the rise of the TV show "Extreme Couponing." Rainbow's promotion is for two days, Wednesday and Oct. 31.
But while the offers bring in customers, they are expensive for stores, which cover the discounts without help from manufacturers. Unlimited deals are becoming less common at stores in other parts of the country.
"They dropped it after too many people were coming in with 20 coupons of one item to stock their mini warehouses," said Phil Lempert, a food industry analyst at Supermarketguru.com.
Rainbow is going against the trend to find a new way to advertise low prices, Lempert said, but he doubts it will retain a lot of new customers. The problem with bargain shoppers is that they're not loyal, he said. They're at Rainbow one day, then Wal-Mart, and the dollar store after that.
But the offer is also a way for Rainbow to go after rival Cub Foods, while bringing in some quick cash. Cub's parent, Eden Prairie-based Supervalu Inc., put itself up for sale in July, either whole or in pieces.