I knew that manufacturers jockied for shelf space on store shelves, and that the middle (eye-level) shelves were a highly-desirable location for a company's products.

But I didn't realize until recently that manufacturers will flat-out pay for shelf space within stores, and that it isn't cheap.

For example, Proctor & Gamble contracted with the Raley/Nob Hill Supermarket Chain to fill an entire shelf endcap with P&G products. The agreement was for 80 stores for three straight months.

A row of Clorox Bleach, a row of Glade Air Freshener, some Windex, etc. A cornucopia of their products.

The price? $1.5 milllion.

Amazing!

I had no idea that manufactures would offer that much money for stores to stock their products in a particular (eye-catching) way. If you break the price of these end caps down, it doesn't sound quite so bad: Proctor and Gamble is spending $207 per store/per day for these end caps.

I hope they sell a lot of bleach!