DANVILLE, Calif. (FNS) -- At Andronico's newest unit here there's a big departure from tradition. No longer are fresh foods presented in a simple format as staple provisions. Instead, the Albany, Calif.-based operator has positioned the departments as fresh-meals destinations.
Image is what makes the difference in this new 29,000-square-foot selling space within the total store, which occupies 41,000 square feet. The entire unit has been designed to resemble an indoor garden with front-end stations looking like potting tables and birdcages containing salable items on endcaps.
"We wanted this store to project a high-end image, yet remain accessible for everybody," said Bill Andronico, president. "Each area has its own environment, setting up stores within the store. It's like an adventure, a different feeling than a big building. Our focus is on the customer's experience. We have added elements that touch their lives in the areas of food, entertaining and living. When our customers go to restaurants they experience the atmosphere, why should food retailing be any different?"
The main produce department shows customers more than 300 SKUs of organic items and a "Salad Greens" salad bar. A customer-operated scale with a tag printer is located there. The bakery department boasts scratch, signature and organic breads along with sweet treats such as cheesecakes and fruit tarts. The in-store made focaccia is used for in-store preparations of sandwiches and grilled panini. A decorative deck oven further punctuates the essence of the unit's bakery program. An adjacent coffee bar with seating offers customers a spot to linger.
Prepared foods, occupying a full one-third of the unit's floor space, are presented with Andronico's traditional abundant, tasteful and exciting flair. The new unit departs slightly from the chain's service style, offering customers more self-service options. An ice antipasto and olive bar is positioned mid-department. Another food bar offers up fruits, grains, salsas and soups. Sandwiches, salads, entrees and side dishes can be found in grab-and-go guises at the "Presto Cuisine" case and in low-profile merchandisers in front of service counters. Despite these convenience offerings, the operator has not entirely departed service. Service deli selections, along with made-to-order salads and sandwiches, are in line with a newly introduced 12-foot section where wraps, noodles and fresh sushi have been installed.
The depth of cheese offerings within the prepared foods area is significant -- more than 300 items are available in two walk-around island merchandisers, a refrigerated, multi-deck case and at a self-service case in front of the service staff. At this counter, Andronico's new unit has a cheese bar dedicated to tasting events, individual customer sampling and cutting cheese to order. Domestic and imported items are offered. Many selections are air-freighted in for freshness.
At the back of the food hall a rotisserie display kitchen with a hot case offers customers meal options ranging from macaroni and cheese, potatoes au gratin, baby back ribs and chicken in barbecue, lemon and jerk flavors.
After examining the meal options in these traditional food-service areas, a customer unable to find exactly the inspiration they are looking for can go to the meat and seafood departments, which hold additional opportunities. The operator has brought meals to these customarily provisions-providing areas.
The new unit leads with a "Butcher's Choice" area where both ready-to-cook and ready-to-eat proteins are presented in several cases sets, including pork loin, roast beef, turkey and osso bucco. A rounded work area displays some of these prepared items, and fronts a grill where burgers or any of the RTH items can be cooked to order.
As with the prepared-foods area, the meat department has likewise been expanded in size to accommodate the new lines. To minimize customer confusion, the operator has grouped the meat department into meal styles. Additionally, the selective placement of the fixtures bring out angles and alcoves that create a boutique atmosphere.
Within one of these, the spotlight is prime beef, a rarity in most retail markets. A dry aging case in full customer view is positioned behind the service case, with its trays of prime T-bone, filet, prime rib and rib eye cuts.
A ground meat section within the service case features branded beef from Coleman Angus and Certified Angus programs. Additionally veal, turkey breast, chicken breast, meat loaf and lamb are available. Fresh poultry is presented on ice within a 17-foot section. In addition to whole chicken fryers, quarters and parts, Andronico's offers a full compliment of oven- or grill-ready center of the plate fowl selections. Sausages are also part of the lineup, in a 10-foot display.
The service seafood department, which adjoins meats, showcases finfish and shellfish on a 30-foot ice table. As with other departments in the Danville location, ready-to-eat and ready-to-cook items offer customers delectable decisions. Hot chowder, bouillabaisse and fish stews simmer on a self-service chowder bar; an ice tray presents a variety of shellfish cocktails; and lobsters swim in a tank ready to be plucked out and delivered raw to customers or cooked and prepared in-store.
