Wonder-Filled
From the Empire, Garden and Sunshine states; to the Midwest mainstays of Indiana, Wisconsin and Michigan; then onward to Wyoming, the Rocky Mountains and Utah; and rounded off by a strong showing from Cajun Country, 14 noteworthy food stores representing 11 states across the nation have been chosen as the standouts of Progressive Grocers 2015 Store Design Contest.
An impressive diversity of formats, floor plans and configurations are represented in the sixth installation of PG’s Store Design Contest, which recognizes excellence and innovation in newly built/remodeled supermarket design concepts. All projects eligible for consideration were completed and open for business from February 2014 through May 2015. Winners appearing on the following pages were selected from nominations submitted by leading store design firms or direct from retail owners/operators, in six budget categories: two for new ground-up construction, three for major remodels, and a new-store conversion category added this year for supermarkets transformed into new retail grocer destinations from former vacant-building sites, some of which were further narrowed to recognize exceptional excellence in a particular classification.
As revealed herein, the masterful finished products are as distinctively fantastic and individually unique as the communities they serve, yet all of the stores share a common, unambiguous commitment to create the most wonder-filled store experience possible for their cherished local customers.
Best Remodel Category Winners (more than $6 million)
Remarkable Reinvention
Market Bistro by Price Chopper, Latham, N.Y.
Store Owner: Price Chopper Supermarkets
Design Firms: API+ (lead) and DL English Design (supporting)
Sparks of Inspiration
Designed as the launch pad for The Golub Corp./Price Chopper’s next generation of stores, Market Bistro incorporates a colorful palate of new ideas designed to stimulate the five senses. Neil Golub, executive chairman, and Lew Shaye, VP of culinary concepts, were the visionaries behind the inventive design scheme, which brings their combined 80-plus years of experience in the supermarket and restaurant industries to bear. A 10,000-square-foot expansion opportunity paved the way for the comprehensive remodel, which included the addition of several new store features: organic tomatoes grown on the vine in produce; a growler station dispensing fresh craft beers; an Italian Market offering fresh pasta, sausages, ethnic deli meats and salads; a QuickCare Clinic; a drive-through pharmacy; hand-dipped chocolates; a cooking school with noontime and evening classes; and in-house smoked meats among others.
Distinctive Design Elements
Designed for superior functional efficiency, entertaining and intuitive shopability, the store evokes a warm and cozy ambience through space, décor, lighting and creature comforts. A shadowed, open ceiling and ambient lighting soften the atmosphere, while focused LED beams romance the product. The warm neutral tones of the flooring, aisle signage, and barrel and basket end displays convey an open-market feel, highlighted by three unique music programs that play simultaneously to distinguish the main supermarket from the Bistro Blvd. and Italian Market areas.
Differentiation Devices
The innovative expansion and dramatic remerchandising took aim at existing specialty and destination offers — floral, cereal, organic and natural, craft beer, cards/party goods, pet, baby, and candy — while the creation of Bistro Blvd. paved the way for a full-service restaurant and collection of 14 fresh, made-to-order fast-casual dining concepts that offer signature twists on popular items from the country’s most famous food landmarks. The main seating area, which includes space for nearly 200 in-store diners at any one time, takes pride of place in the center of Bistro Blvd. and is partially enclosed and enhanced by soft pastel lighting and an attractive tree sculpture, which lends privacy and a park-like atmosphere.
Best Conversion (converting former building to new supermarket)
Overall Winner
Jackson Whole Grocer, Jackson Hole, Wyo.
Store Owner: Jeff and Darcy Rice
Design Firm: Mehmert Store Services
Sparks of Inspiration
A small mountain community amid the Teton Range of the Rocky Mountains, Jackson Hole, Wyo., is home to a distinctive lumberyard/hardware store turned sleek supermarket, Jackson Whole Grocer. To be sure, the scenic region’s surrounding mountains and ravines create a brilliant landscape offering folks plenty to do and see — except shopping, as a result of limited retail development opportunities. With this in mind, Jackson Whole Grocer’s owners, Jeff and Darcy Rice, set their sights on relocating their original establishment to the site of a former lumberyard, intent on transforming the property into a bustling market reflecting both the town and the location they’d come to love. Mission comlpete.
Distinctive Design Elements
Enlisting Sussex, Wis.-based Mehmert Store Services, along with the skills of local firms G.E. Johnson as general contractor and Berlin Architects for the shell, the store design of Jackson Whole Grocer, housed in a one-of-a-kind former-drive-through lumberyard, reclaims the original building’s native timber while incorporating modern steel appeal to transform the space into a true thing of beauty. The recycle/reuse/reclaim approach was carried throughout the market, which features a decidedly mountain-air atmosphere. Vibrant hues of orange and red are juxtaposed against the deep tones of recycled timber to yield a perfect blend of conventional and organic, reclaimed and brand-new.
Differentiation Devices
Distressed orchard bins and tables display gleaming produce, while carefully selected lighting reveals ready-made meals nearby. Meanwhile, a 180-degree multideck refrigerated display attracts rugged local guides and adventurous travelers stocking up for the day ahead, and the contrasting rustic wooden beams overhead evoke the store’s natural surroundings. State-of-the-art meat, deli and bakery cases sit against a backdrop of earth-tone tiles and stainless-wrapped timber columns. Customers are welcomed into the café, boasting modern décor and laser-cut lighting, with tables and chairs made from original lumber reclaimed from a former building on the original site.
Preservation Perfection
Matherne’s, Baton Rouge, La.
Store Co-owner: Tony Matherne
Design Firm: Decorworx
Sparks of Inspiration
Downtown Baton Rouge, La., had been without a full-service grocery store for nearly 50 years, until Matherne’s opened in early January 2015 in a new mixed-use development. The urban market’s co-owner, Tony Matherne, hasn’t looked back since. Indeed, now drawing a lunch crowd far larger than ever expected — with a line often snaking from one end of the store to the other — Matherne’s swiftly answered the call by extending its hours to meet the needs of enthusiastic local patrons who are grateful to have a store to call their own for basic staples and much more.
Distinctive Design Elements
The wine shop is housed in a bank vault that still stands as a strong reminder of the building’s past occupant, Capital One Bank. The store shares its main entrance with newly remodeled residential space above, while distinctive existing stone floors and columns were preserved, as was a large historic wall of coins. Although a 30-foot atrium posed a design challenge in the original compact, labyrinthine floor plan, lighting and décor were key to reinventing the space, whose ceiling was painted black and accented by soft custom lighting along the walls. Fleur de lis accents, colorful patterned banners and French-style filigree give a subtle nod to the local flavor, while luxury vinyl wood flooring creates a comfortable atmosphere. Despite some surprises unearthed during the remodel, including uneven floors, unknown concrete stairs, a smaller vault and hidden walls, Matherne’s transformed the space into a functional and efficient downtown destination.
Differentiation Devices
To accommodate the busy lunch crowd comprising many downtown professionals, careful consideration was given to how the deli would be set and to merchandising, including compatible signage to complement the charm and sophistication of the historic building. Accordingly, the owners and design team harnessed a colorful, sleek aesthetic to highlight the center of the store, while a cozy, enclosed dining area that, previously housed an exterior section of the bank, featuring floor-to-ceiling glass, became another focal point. Chestnut-stained trellises adorn the bakery, deli and meat departments, while dual entrances provide easy entry, exit and checkout efficiencies, all of which are illuminated with high-profile lighting for easy sight lines.
Inspired Reinvention
Hi Nabor Supermarket, Baton Rouge, La.
Store Owner: Jim Crifasi
Design Firms: Decorworx and Salco Construction
Sparks of Inspiration
Starting with a long-vacant building attached to a former restaurant space divided by a brick-and-cinderblock wall, Jim Crifasi wanted his new Hi Nabor supermarket to reflect his family history in the Baton Rouge, La., area and provide a comfortable, lively shopping experience. The inspiration for the new store was Crifasi’s father and the company’s founder, Sam Crifasi, who died one month before the family closed its previous store. Large photos of Sam — who loved Hi Nabor and put everything he had into making the banner’s stores successful — hang in several locations throughout the store, along with photos of his wife, who died in 2009 and whose nickname for Sam was “Sunshine.” As a tribute the store’s logo now features a shining sun – with nine points of light to represent the family’s nine children — dotting the “i” in Hi Nabor, which from its opening day, Nov. 6, 2014 (what would have been Sam’s birthday), has attracted many loyal local “nabors.”
Distinctive Design Elements
While many of the materials in the store have been reclaimed, other features are brand-new. The massive decorative arches —made from sheet metal that was laser-cut by hand by one of the store manager’s brothers and connecting the two sides of the store — invite shoppers into an expansive fresh food department. Prepared foods, such as hot bars for breakfast, lunch and dinner; seasonal fare like rotisserie, smoked or fried turkey dinners; honey-basted baked hams; and pizza, play a large role in the store’s lineup and are housed amid exposed painted ceilings and stained and polished concrete floors. A variety of word art is placed in various areas around the perimeter walls, along with three-dimensional glossy vinyl department signage, while the bold, eye-catching color scheme around the perimeter was orchestrated by Crifasi’s sister Jan.
Differentiation Devices
The unique front end register markers featuring metal tubing and lantern lighting, fabricated by the store manager’s brother and featuring local high schools’ colors, were designed and installed by another Crifasi sibling, John, whose assistance was invaluable, throughout the construction process. A large, exclusive photo of the Baton Rouge skyline, taken from across the Mississippi river, with the bridge in the foreground, was incorporated into an outline of the state of Louisiana that hangs on the front wall. Crifasi’s wife’s printing company, First Graphix, designed the aisle markers and also used local school colors. In keeping with the store’s status as a great “nabor,” its fresh smoothies are a big hit with patrons of the 24-hour fitness center that co-anchors the shopping center in which the supermarket is located.
Form and Function
ShopRite of Burlington, Blackwood, N.J.
Store Owner: Eickhoff Family Supermarkets
Design Firm: Cold Technology
Sparks of Inspiration
The project consisted of taking a former 110,000-square-foot Kmart and razing approximately 20,000 square feet to accommodate the new ShopRite store’s receiving facilities, while overhauling the entire shopping center – including a new parking lot and site utilities, as well as an entrance drive from the bypass that leads into the shopping center – to result in a magnificent state-of-the-art supermarket.
Distinctive Design Elements
From an engineering perspective, the store offers cutting-edge features throughout, particularly its refrigeration, HVAC, lighting, power distribution and control systems. The refrigeration system design features electronic expansion valves, electronically commutated motors, LED lights, digital compressors, and variable-frequency drive for condenser fans. The HVAC system design employs a distributed methodology featuring desiccant dehumidification, concentric duct units with reheat, and individualized room control for all back-office facilities. Smart circuit breakers are incorporated into power walls for each electrical room. Lighting uses a high-contrast layered design method that’s nearly 100 percent LED, while the store’s power distribution system features accommodations for a co-generation process that will provide the entire store with full-generation capability in the event of a power loss.
Differentiation Devices
The store features an expansive prepared food program with such elements as separate sushi, Asian, soup and salad bars, along with a hot food bar for traditional fare and fire-grilled, fried and rotisserie chicken. The full-service deli department offers an extensive selection of store-made entrées and salads, while the in-store bakery – complete with its own “doughnut robot” – is in close proximity to the stunning fresh seafood and produce departments. Also providing well-stocked conventional departments with a large variety of meat, dairy, frozen and grocery, ShopRite of Burlington boasts a full-service beer, wine and liquor department in the center of the store, where a large variety of cigars is housed in a custom humidor. Among the store’s services are a drive-through pharmacy department, a shop-from-home pickup department and an on-site nutritionist.
Organic/Natural
Whole Foods Market, Davie, Fla.
Design Firm: King Retail Solutions
Sparks of Inspiration
Well known for trailblazing store design, Whole Foods Market called on King Retail Solutions (KRS) to help it retrofit a larger retail space for its Davie, Fla., store into a locally meaningful destination. With an eye on familiar aesthetics, materials, lifestyles and appetites that celebrate the unique history, geography, and microculture of the colonial destination town — which sits 30 minutes east of the Everglades and 10 minutes off the Gold Coast — the project is a case study in mixed-media perfection. Combining native Seminole-inspired textile patterning; indigenous colonial materials (i.e., repurposed cypress barn wood, upcycled rusted hardwares and weathered rope); and natural nautical elements, the design team also borrowed liberally from the locale’s bright sunshine and abundant flora, including Spanish moss and big-tree overhangs, to highlight destination spaces (e.g., floral, produce, bulk).
Distinctive Design Elements
Hand-drawn illustrations were applied directly to brick, wood, chalkboard and glass, including a mural paying tribute to brewers’ hops in The Watering Hole beer and wine bar. The marriage of a bright modern space, Atlantic coast color palette, colonial beach ranch sensibility, and Native American textile patterning was incorporated into background graphics, furnishings, treatments, directional signage, and fonts in the custom signage. For instance, KRS redesigned Whole Foods’ Animal Welfare rating system signage to be modular, easily understood, and see-through so that butcher staff working stations in back could easily see customers approach. For signage, fixtures and décor throughout the store, much of the production was done in-house by KRS custom craftsmen. Murals were hand-painted onto brick, rope and wood signage was antiqued by hand, and wood was routed and hand-stained. The store also features symbolic storytelling throughout, such as in the floral/botanical department, whose focus extends to geometric patterning and design, based on the symbolic storytelling of local Seminole people in basket-weaving patterns that date back to before the 1700s.
Differentiation Devices
Through distinct materials such as Fireclay tile and native cypress, color schemes, and destination-department headlines, the design aims to take shoppers on a journey of discovery. The color scheme creates a bright, modern, beach-y vibe, while showcasing all departments — from health, beauty and home goods, to floral, grocery and everything in between — that support a healthy and harmonious lifestyle. The store also serves up extensive fresh prepared options, including a guacamole station, beer/wine bar, sushi kitchen, sandwich counter, pizzeria, and bars for hot/cold salads, juices, coffees and teas. Seating is made available at each restaurant station, as well as centrally along a front wall lined entirely with bright open windows.
Overall Store Design (new construction, under 50,000 square feet)
Best Grocerant
Cantoro Italian Market and Trattoria, Plymouth, Mich.
Store Owner: Mario Fallone
Design Firm: Studio H2G
Sparks of Inspiration
Cantoro Italian Market owner Mario Fallone enlisted Studio H2G to develop a contemporary specialty market and trattoria for the grocer’s second store that embodies the deeply rooted heritage, culture and reputation its customers have come to love and expect. Motivated and inspired by fresh and authentic prepared foods and cooking and baking conducted on-site daily, Fallone and his team aim to make each shopper’s visit a simple yet unique experience. The end result finds customers venturing from all parts of southeast Michigan to peruse the unique imported grocery products, and enjoy exceptional cuisine in the adjacent restaurant.
Distinctive Design Elements
Three floors comprise the layout, which needed to allow ample space to showcase Cantoro’s grocerant prowess and accommodate an in-house warehouse for the grocery store and the restaurant. The lower level, meanwhile, houses a prep kitchen, a pastry kitchen and the storage warehouse. Also located in the lower level is a cantina resembling an underground Tuscan wine cellar, which is ideal for tastings, wine clubs and lectures; the space is also available to the public for wedding receptions and gatherings of all types. Meanwhile, a large mezzanine upstairs also serves as a venue for events and parties, while the main level is home to the market, offering foods prepared fresh daily in the kitchens – ranging from homemade pasta, breads and pizza, to ribs and sandwiches – along with imported cheeses and deli meats, fresh produce and homemade gelato. Adjacent to the market is a full Italian restaurant and coffee bar offering authentic Italian cuisine.
Differentiation Devices
The store’s most unique design element is its spaciousness, played up by an expansively high ceiling to impart an energizing, open-air vibe. Included on the market side is the cooking line of the restaurant, situated behind the prepared food counter to allow customers to experience the sights and smells of the restaurant itself while piquing their interest in the intensely fresh menu.
Local Charm
LeBlanc’s, Baton Rouge, La.
Store Owners: Marcy and Randall LeBlanc
Design Firm: Decorworx
Sparks of Inspiration
After nearly a century in business, LeBlanc’s Frais Marché location, the eight-store chain’s first market in Baton Rouge, La., added 19,000 square feet to offer local shoppers a more upscale experience. Brothers Marcy and Randall LeBlanc are among the most progressive members of Associated Grocers of Baton Rouge. Well known for offering specialty and local products, including Cajun and Creole specialties, the family, which has run the company for four generations, aimed to create a new gathering place for local residents to enjoy good food, great wine, and LeBlanc’s famous southern hospitality and service.
Distinctive Design Elements
Maintaining local flair was top priority for the design, which blends contemporary elements with historic Louisiana charm. Warm colors breathe life into the parameter walls and create a comfortable, calming vibe, while fleur de lis accents and wrought-iron details mounted on brick evoke classic Southern style. The unstained polished concrete floor is modern and functional, while simple unfinished shelving showcases the product at center stage.
Differentiation Devices
Key to the design are large product photos of LeBlanc’s specialty products, including its signature award-winning cakes showcased in an oversized print above the bakery. Customers are greeted with fresh sushi and a beautiful wine department set apart by a large suspended trellis with brushed-gold lettering. The store’s front end is also adorned with a 20-foot-by-8-foot mural hand-painted by the same local artist LeBlanc’s has long used for its other stores.
Best Ethnic/Specialty
China Town, Salt Lake City
Store Owner: Andrew So
Design Firm: Decorworx
Sparks of Inspiration
Utah’s largest Asian market unites the state’s rapidly expanding Asian community with a contemporary, authentic supermarket to call their own. Designed to weave Asian culture into every element, China Town boasts a quaint yet uniquely modern urban design featuring extra-wide aisles and an open ceiling to house an ample array of Asian products and services in a warm and welcoming setting.
Distinctive Design Elements
Larger-than-life product murals, oversized metal and glossy main-department text, hand-painted wood planks, and a refreshingly bold color scheme serve as the foundation for the décor. An 18-foot fresh-fish tank imparts an authentic, open-air fish market atmosphere, while a Tasty Teas of the World wall makes the area feel more like a boutique than a grocery aisle. Additionally a fresh-cut meat counter offers vast varieties of meats and homemade Asian pastries, while valance text calling, out departmental specialties appears in eight languages.
Differentiation Devices
China Town houses 35,000 square feet of Asian-themed product, half of the available space for which (approximately 20,000 square feet) is packed with fresh fruits and vegetables. Uncommon and hard-to-find produce are plentiful and abundant here, restocked daily to maximize freshness. China Town sources produce from all around the world, with one goal in mind: to offer maximum assortment for a diverse population.
Best Remodel ($3 million to $6 million)
Fresh-focused Pacesetter
Strack & Van Til, Munster, Ind.
Design Firm: Studio H2G
Sparks of Inspiration
Completely revamped to focus on freshness and engaging families to eat healthfully, the store now features an entrance that opens on abundant fresh fruit and vegetable displays from an expansive fresh produce and floral department that serves as the store’s central focal point and provides both easy visual and physical access to adjacent departments that encircle it in a seamless, organized flow. The main aisle leads customers to the fresh bakery, which features whimsical rolling-pin chandeliers, and the deli, housing a exhaustive array of domestic and international products.
Distinctive Design Elements
Reducing the location’s carbon footprint was a primary focus of the brilliant remodel, which added energy efficiencies throughout, including LED lighting. Each department is now clearly labeled and easily visible throughout the store via low sight lines to allow for effortless travel through the location. Individual, unique departmental signs employ earthy, vibrant colors and tones to create a calming, welcoming environment. The fun, playful, visually appealing signage works splendidly with the neutral architectural colors and bold brand graphics to foster an environment that lets Strack & Van Til’s product shine as the hero.
Differentiation Devices
Focusing on whole organics, natural foods and gluten-free items, the store is set up to offer the value of a farmers’ market in the environment of a large space. The location also features on-site grilling in the seafood department, with signage sporting cutout lettering on wood paneling to call out “seafare” against an ocean-at-sunset backdrop. The fresh meat department’s signage, meanwhile, is illuminated by multiple small bulbs, and the sleek checkout lanes are adorned with striking metal-basket lighting that gives the effect of floating candles. Additionally, the front end’s wood textures underfoot and large-scale lamp shades above create an intimate space that makes a lasting impression on shoppers.
Good to Great
Albrecht’s Sentry Market, Delafield, Wis.
Store Owner: Jim Albrecht
Design Firm: Mehmert Store Services
Sparks of Inspiration
Jim Albrecht, owner of Albrecht’s Sentry Market, took an already-great store and made it even better and more relevant. With the input of Mehmert Store Services to make his vision a reality, Albrecht’s remodel took a high-performing store – which prides itself on customer service and shopping ease – to the next level through a keen focus on perishables, aided by newly minted equipment, fixtures and traffic patterns.
Distinctive Design Elements
To highlight a fresh kitchen experience, both full-service and self-serve cases were employed to showcase the expansive full-service hot foods and fresh soup bars, on-site fresh sushi station, open-top cases, and crystal-clear glass sides, all of which draw eyes to the product on display while enhancing made-to-order customization. Meanwhile, a new specialty cheese department flanks the nearby bakery department on one side, with a seafood ice bar on the other, as part of a series of concentric islands that focus on superior customer service and a premier shopping experience. The end result provides compelling evidence that a simple change in case profiles can fulfill a grocer’s goal of highlighting great products and personal service.
Differentiation Devices
Albrecht’s fresh bakery, featuring rolls, cakes, brownies and signature desserts baked fresh daily, has always been a store destination. Now, signature breads sliced to order add to the bakery experience, which also currently boasts an expanded and vastly more efficient island-style design that provides an interactive experience for the customer and baker, while self-serve bakery bins offer convenience for time-strapped shoppers. The floral department, relocated from a quiet corner to the bustling intersection of liquor and frozen, has also seen a significant increase in sales and customer response. Last but not least, an expanded wine department now features vineyard-style racks that can display a plethora of varieties while cultivating Old World charm.
Healthy Innovation
Harmons, St. George, Utah
Design Firm: Decorworx
Sparks of Inspiration
Harmons, a neighborhood grocer, operates by a few simple beliefs: exceed customers’ expectations, be remarkably passionate about food and the surrounding community, and serve shoppers with integrity and freshness. These beliefs, coupled with a razor-sharp focus on its better-for-you product availability, provided the core motivation for the remodel of Harmons’ St. George store, located in the heart of a southern Utah community known for promoting healthy lifestyles. Striving to establish and reaffirm Harmons’ prowess as both a merchant and a neighborhood store, the design team created a climate of coziness and spaciousness throughout the location by widening and reorganizing its aisles. The team also sought to develop clean directional information and signage to guide customers around the store with ease and convenience, while reinforcing a love of food and passionate service.
Distinctive Design Elements
Placing glossy, bold and modern phrasing and text calling out the healthy and fresh product around the entire store valance serves as the basis of the store’s wellness approach. Add the unique and artistic multidimensional food photos that “pop” off the valance in the primary departments, and shoppers can’t help but pick up on the focus on freshness. Another new and drastic change to the store was the addition of a quaint bistro, which serves as a gathering point with a gourmet coffee and cocoa bar, handmade pastries, and fresh Italian gelato. A spacious yet cozy seating and dining area nearby invites customers not only to sit down and eat, but also to relax, enjoy and linger a little longer.
Differentiation Devices
Harmons keeps an artist on staff to create store signage with a personal touch, feeding into the philosophy that customers are the central focus of the store. The remodeled pharmacy area allows for new prescription-refilling technology, while a larger customer lounge and an expanded associate area enhance the store’s ability to help more patrons every day. These changes, coupled with the hiring of a resident dietitian and an additional 4,000 SKUs of natural and organic products, as well as a new bulk food section, round out the health-and wellness-focused design. As evidence of the enthusiastic support generated by the remodeled store, the parking lot has been expanded since the grand opening.
Best Remodel (less than $3 million)
Upscale Ambiance
Clark’s Snowmass, Snowmass Village, Colo.
Store Owner: Tom Clark Jr.
Design Firm: Decorworx
Sparks of Inspiration
Known for its roots as a conventional grocery store that emphasizes natural, organic and gourmet products, Clark’s Markets’ eight stores – six of which are nestled amid the Colorado Rockies’ most iconic ski resort towns, with two others in Utah – each have their own personalities, based on the needs of their respective local customers. Such was the case with Clark’s Snowmass store, which has undergone an extensive remodel. Quickly acquiring a reputation as “the nicest small store in Colorado,” the newly acquired location also added a small but important amount of space – 4,000 square feet – to enhance its appeal to upscale ski vacationers and local residents alike, who select products from shelves that now hold 15 percent more product.
Distinctive Design Elements
When Tom Clark Jr. evaluated the grocery store space he’d leased in the charming village of Snowmass, Colo., it was clear that the store needed a soup-to-nuts overhaul. To that end, Clark gutted the 14,000-square-foot-space and rebuilt the interior from scratch, taking advantage of today’s advanced heating, refrigeration and lighting systems. Installed throughout the store was all-new LED Baro lighting that not only uses half the electrical load that the previous system did, but also showcases the store’s beautiful array of products, especially in the produce department, which features variegated wood planks to offset the simplicity of clean acrylic signage. Design features found in other parts of the store also give a nod to the modern yet rustic resort town, including in Clark’s signature fresh meat department, where dimensional, ornate lettering and signage affirm the message of quality and cut-to-order service.
Differentiation Devices
Guests can order specialty coffees and smoothies and also enjoy samples of various fresh produce items in the multitasking welcome center at the front of the store, which also features made-to-order sushi, a sandwich station and a gourmet deli. The store additionally offers an assortment of chef-prepared meals for grab-and-go convenience, as well as soups and an artisan bakery. To take some of the hassle out of grocery shopping, Clark’s earlier this summer began offering online shopping and delivery. The store’s overall design, including a black ceiling and wood floors, imparts a cozy, modern vibe with a dash of eclectic flavor and fun. Oversized images found throughout the store were taken by a local photographer, who was hired to capture life on the slopes.
Sustainable Stunner
Ever’man Cooperative Grocery & Café, Pensacola, Fla.
Design Firm: Bullock Tice Associates
Sparks of Inspiration
Ever’Man’s site consists of one city block in Pensacola, Fla. The property boundary makes up 2 acres encompassing three existing buildings, the main grocery store, an administrative building and a former print shop building converted into a community center providing a cool, utilitarian gathering space while preserving its function with an urban edge. A newly designed open green space between the renovated buildings at street level was created to accommodate recreation, farmers’ markets, outdoor vendors and other events, while bike racks, electric car-charging stations and retention ponds were also added. In developing the interior of the store, the design teams set out to create a warm, inviting feel capped by different earth tones and appealing signage and murals throughout.
Distinctive Design Elements
Following a member survey and research on how to better serve the greater Pensacola community, the Ever’man co-op, in conjunction with local architects Bullock Tice Associates, set out to develop a community-friendly design in an expanded space. The main grocery store building received a complete interior renovation, as well as an addition to the west and south of the existing facility. The renovation helped Ever’Man provide an efficient circulation pattern for store visitors, expanded and added existing departments to help promote membership growth, placed an indoor-outdoor dining area at the northwest corner of the building, employed highly efficient mechanical and electrical equipment to promote one of the co-op’s core values of sustainability, and, most importantly, helped redefine, the Ever’Man’s brand as the grocery store of choice in downtown Pensacola and surrounding areas. A glass canopy system runs the length of the main entrance, set off by dramatic interior design effects like a curving front end with skylights that reflect Ever’Man’s commitment to sustainable design by bringing as much natural daylight into the sales space as possible. Ever’man’s design also boasts reflective roofing, extra insulation, and energy-efficient lighting, refrigeration and HVAC systems that reduce energy consumption.
Differentiation Devices
The project aimed to expand the location’s fresh offerings through an overall grand refresh. The deli increased in size by more than 600 percent, while a full-service meat and seafood department tripled, alongside an expanded produce department. A new dining room seats more than 50 people, along with outdoor seating for 30 more. The retail area of the store was increased by more than 25 percent by adding new construction and relocating a storage cooler outside. The design team also used dark-gray/black shelving to give the store a cleaner look. The new shelving is deeper (22 inches) to maximize available space for additional products.