Scale Up and Stay True to Your Roots

This article previously appeared in Progressive Grocer.

When local grocers start thinking about scaling up, they can go through a bit of an identity crisis. Looking in the mirror, they still see a community-focused business that has scored a hit by connecting with specific people in specific places. That could be a few rural towns in western Massachusetts, or a smattering of beachfront food stores up and down the Gulf Coast.

Ramping up store growth raises the prospect of developing a one-size-fits-all prototype. How do you go regional or national without losing touch with what fueled your success in the first place?

Here are three design-related tips for connecting with new communities and customers as you grow your operations.

1. Take a more nuanced view of localization

Grocery execs and store designers have long understood the benefits of localization, but in too many cases the approach ends up feeling like it was driven by the town’s chamber of commerce. If your new store is in a part of the country famed for its cranberry bogs, Columbia River salmon or Black Angus beef, then by all means use merchandising and graphics to celebrate these local icons. It also makes sense to create a community board that trumpets your support of sports teams, charities and public safety heroes, with ads and social media accounts driving home the message.

But a more granular approach to localization can yield benefits, too. In a practice that is common to hospitality architects who design luxury hotels and resorts, expanding grocers can study how their new customers differ from one another. This knowledge can then be used to shape the look, feel and function of the store.

Imagine planning a store that will be within walking distance of three bustling colleges. The design firm has put together multiple patron profiles for that location and observed that time-pressed students who rarely cook will make up a big part of the customer base.

Rather than plopping down a one-size-fits-all prototype, the grocer can now work with the architecture and engineering (A+E) team to maximize the visibility, visual appeal, and convenience of the grab-and-go experience located close to the front of the store.

2. Make it a multidisciplinary conversation

Localization can be about more than putting cereal boxes, ramen noodles or premade Cuban sandwiches within easy reach. By huddling early in the planning process, grocers and their A+ E teams can brainstorm more ambitious offerings, a conversation that should include how mechanical, electrical, plumbing, fire-protection or refrigeration codes and components could come into play. Let’s say the college town is in Southwest Texas. Students could pop in and see a fast casual-like street taco bar with a locally inspired menu and graphics as well as a fast and efficient queueing system. Mechanical engineers have worked with the store designers to create a distinct experience, controlling the airflow in and around that taco bar so that the croissants at the bakery on the other side of the store never take on the aroma of honey-lime barbacoa.

Likewise, the A+E team has taken the time to chart how other patron profiles—retired professors, say, or parents with young children—will experience and use the space. Having studied the demographics and psychographics in the market, the team might suggest giving politically and environmentally conscious shoppers a bit more information. Imagine a portrait of the third-generation farmer who grew those habanero and serrano peppers, or an illuminated display showing how the store minimizes its carbon footprint.

3. Know thyself—and build this into your store design

Some employees at the expanding New England grocery chain Market Basket sport nametags that list the number of years they have devoted to the company. It’s a seemingly small detail that conveys a sense of community connection. For its part, fast-expanding Publix has built a strong reputation via its employees’ friendliness and service orientation.

If the human dimension is a big part of who you are, make sure your A+E team understands this from the outset, because store design can be used to accentuate this strength. For example, the team could design the café so that seating is close to the service counter, making it easy for regulars to shoot the breeze with their favorite baristas. If your brand is more about convenience, the team might use site and store layout to maximize the efficiency of online order pickup.

As you form your growth strategy, focus on understanding the logistical, experiential and brand elements that will need to stay consistent. For everything else, let flexibility and localization be the name of the game.

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Steven Le and James Owens, both AIA, NCARB, serve regional and national retailers and grocers in their work at HFA Architecture + Engineering. Le is Senior Grocery + Retail Lead and Owens is a Vice President at the fully integrated, multidisciplinary firm.

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