• Chicago Tribune , Thursday, August 7, 2008 10:30 AM

As the economy slows and many big retailers run out of space to open new stores, they are dusting off a tried-and-true strategy: Sell more products in the stores you have. "A lot of retailers are looking at 'How can I sell more things to the people already in my store,'" says Mary Brett Whitfield, analyst at TNS Retail Forward.

Over the past year, home improvement chain Menard has set up grocery aisles in 75% of its 240 stores, so shoppers can buy milk, canned goods, boxed dinners and frozen pizza alongside roofing materials and insulation. Walgreen introduced a clothing line, called Casual Gear, at most of its 6,000 stores in April. And just last week, Best Buy began selling musical instruments and music lessons at more than 75 of its 965 stores.

There's no guarantee of success, of course. Home Depot, for example, went too far off base when it opened a handful of convenience stores that sold candy bars, cigarettes, coffee and fuel in the parking lots of its stores in Georgia and Tennessee. The sixth and last store opened in June 2007 and there are no plans to open any more, says Sheriee Bowman, a Home Depot spokeswoman.

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