Answer Man: IC Imagine school building any more? Ingles BOGOs explanation?

Today’s batch of burning questions, my smart-aleck answers and the real deal:

Question: I know that IC Imagine charter school is operating, as I understand it, as a middle school and high school in their new building. I know they have considerably more land holdings, and as I recall they are still running a grade school program from the shopping mall complex on Brevard Road. Are they planning on building a brick and mortar facility near the other building, and if so when? What is the current enrollment at the primary and secondary level?

My answer: I'm just going to assume ICI will be putting in a hotel and brewpub on the rest of the property. Maybe a few hundred apartments.

Real answer: IC Imagine is out of the shopping center and in its permanent home.

"We operated our school on Brevard Road prior to completing construction on our new 47-acre campus on McIntosh Road," Jenn Townley, head of school, said via email. "In the fall of 2019 our entire student body (K-12) moved into our new facility."

The school had utilized space in an old Kmart shopping center on Brevard Road. That former Kmart space is now being renovated to become an At Home furnishings store, as I noted in December.

ICI initially used modular units on its McIntosh Road property while the new building was in the works, as I mentioned in a 2018 Answer Man column. The new 115,000-square-foot building, along with the land and associated costs, came with a price tag of $23 million, Townley said in 2018.

In the enrollment department, ICI is booming.

"We are a kindergarten-12th grade school (primary and secondary), and our current enrollment is 1,230 students," Townley said.

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As far as more building, Townley mentioned a new trail, not another building.

"Currently, we are moving forward with the construction of a 3.1 mile trail that will traverse our property," Townley said. "The trail will be used for classes, mountain biking, cross country and other events."

Brick and mortar construction appears to be complete.

"We are done with our building!" Townley said.

Question: When I read the food ads for Ingles, I'm always a bit confused by some of their offerings, and perhaps the Answer Man can clear this up. I know in some of these specials the store is attempting to move more product. For example, a product is offered as two for $4. Does this mean that if you buy only one of that particular product, it's $2? Or are you then charged the regular full price if you don't buy two? Then there are offers that say buy one and get the second one for free. In this case it seems like if you buy two, you're getting the items for 50% off. On the other hand, if for whatever reason you only buy one, are you paying the full price? Or are you going to get that one item for a 50% reduction? Finally, in some products the numbers get quite large. An example would be if you buy 10 for $10. Once again, I'm going to assume that if you buy five, you'll get them for $5. Am I correct? Could you please find out from the appropriate individuals how effective these offerings are in terms of people buying the greater amount when these offers are made?

My answer: Not going to lie here — for years I just assumed you had to buy the full amount to get the full discount. After my wife lit me up for buying 10 bottles of soda one day, I finally saw the light. Hey, I drank all of them ... in two days.

Real answer: Considering Ingles and other stores have been offering these types of deals for decades, I think we can assume they work. More on that in a minute.

But first, let's get to the dollars and cents of it all.

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"Like most retail businesses, we offer pricing incentives for customers to purchase additional quantities," Ron Freeman, Ingles Markets chief financial officer, said via email. "If an item is BOGO (buy one, get one free), and you buy only one, then you get that product for half price."

Similarly, if a product is advertised as "10 for $10," then each one would cost $1, Freeman said.

As far as effectiveness, these types of promotions do work.

"Though traditional discount sales are effective, Buy One, Get One (BOGO) has become one of the more popular choices for retailers lately," Matt Ellsworth wrote in a 2018 blog post for Wiser Solutions, a retail analytics provider.

"It goes without saying that shoppers like getting items for free," Ellsworth wrote. "According to behavioral economics researcher Dan Ariely, shoppers generally overvalue the benefits of 'free' even when compared to higher-quality items at a discounted price."

BOGOs can be more profitable for retailers, too, Ellsworth said, citing a report from industry analyst AMG that found, "66 percent of shoppers say that they like BOGO the most out of all discount promotions."

"They also found that 93 percent of shoppers report that they have taken advantage of BOGO promotions at least once," Ellsworth wrote.

Further, he cited Professor Priti Salvi of S.V. Institute of Management, who noted "shoppers are more likely to participate in BOGO promotions because the products seem to have no extra cost and are more valuable due to the deal."

So, that's why stores do it!

I'll also note that today's second question was free ... and you owe me $79.50 for the first one.

This is the opinion of John Boyle. To submit a question, contact him at 232-5847 or jboyle@citizen-times.com.

This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Answer Man: IC Imagine school building more? Ingles BOGOs explanation?