NEW YORK – In the race to be everything to everyone, retailers such as Home Depot, Best Buy and Staples are banking on consumer basics to increase their bottom line, reports the Wall Street Journal.

“Home Depot Inc. is one of many unlikely retailers betting that consumer staples will boost sales and pull shoppers into their stores,” notes the newspaper. In Best Buy, laptops are sold with Keurig coffee pods and Tide detergent, while Staples customers “can pick up legal pads, but they can also find shaving cream and deodorant.”

Best Buy calls this sales strategy "floor optimization," while Staples calls it "Beyond Office Supplies." The newspaper and some shoppers call it “puzzling,” a nod to the continued presence of channel blurring.

Staples' marketing executive Alison Corcoran told the newspaper that adding other goods well beyond the scope of office supplies is a logical step. “Some of the new products are traffic drivers, others are a convenience play … We are trying to establish new patterns with our shoppers, who might be buying those paper towels somewhere else,” she commented.

While the sale of consumer packaged goods is nothing new for these retailers, they have been more aggressive in marketing and selling additional CPG categories. Meanwhile, CPG companies are encouraging the retailers’ efforts, noting that their presence in otherwise non-traditional channels is boosting both brand awareness and sales.

For Home Depot, however, consumer staples came almost by accident, according to the retailer’s U.S. retail president, Craig Menear. He told the newspaper that employees in the garden department noticed cleaning supplies would boost the division's sales in the winter, when customers weren't buying potting soil and shrubbery. The company worked with Procter & Gamble Co. to add cleaning supplies. "Once we made it more visible, it became a growing category for us," he said.

The newspaper notes that earlier this year Home Depot launched its own laundry detergent under its HDX label.