ASHEVILLE, N.C. -- Ingles Markets here is rolling out a prototype store that puts the deli/food-service department at front and center, and aims it squarely at the lunch and dinner business.
The format, which Ingles has dubbed MegaStore, is Ingles' platform for three new food-service programs: hot pizza, self-service rotisserie chicken and chilled grab-and-go meals.
The store design puts these new programs, and the rest of the deli, which includes a hot foods service counter and a sit-down cafe, at the head of a wide fresh foods power aisle, another first for Ingles.
"There's a very strong perishables feel to the MegaStore," said Ed Kolodzieski, vice president of strategic planning, Ingles.
As reported in the September 2 issue of SN, the 188-unit chain opened the fifth and latest Megastore on Sept. 1 in Boiling Springs, S.C. The first 59,000-square-foot unit went up at the end of June in Dacula, Ga., a suburb of Atlanta. The stores are all being built from the ground up and will be approximately the same size.
The number of MegaStores will hit 10 by the end of this year, and at least six will be opened in 1997, said Kolodzieski.
Kolodzieski said that in the chain's traditional stores, which range in size from 32,000 to 52,000 square feet, the produce department leads the traffic pattern. The deli/food-service department and the in-store bakery are both located in the fourth corner of the store, at the end of the traffic pattern.
Ingles older stores also have two identically sized entrances, but the MegaStore relies on one major entrance, to direct shoppers into a traffic pattern that emphasizes the fresh food aisle.
Immediately upon entering the store, the customer has a full visual sweep of the fresh foods, Kolodzieski said.
A hot pizza station and the display of chilled entrees are prominent; so is a 7-foot, hexagonal self-service display of dome-packed rotisserie chickens, situated in the middle of the aisle.
Open production is also an important element in the fresh-oriented store's design, said Ingles officials.
"That's not only to emphasize the fresh preparation, but also to let the customer see that there are associates there, facing them, that will communicate with them," Kolodzieski said.
Many of the changes such as bringing the salad bar near the deli hot food counter have come from customer requests, he added.
The chain decided to continue to feature the hot food counters, which offer 25 to 30 items each day, as well as add chilled, prepared items, packaged, in a new four-tiered, eight-foot, refrigerated case.
"It doesn't matter what people in the industry are saying about hot food programs. We've had a very good hot foods business for years. Why would we do away with that when it's doing so well?" Kolodzieski asked.
Sales are hottest at lunchtime. "We have a very good lunch trade. We've worked hard over the years on the hot lunch and it'd be pretty rare not to see a crowd at the hot food counter in any Ingles store," Kolodzieski said.
Building out from strong lunch sales, Ingles will also focus its attention on capturing the dinner crowd in its MegaStores, Kolodzieski added.
"The packaged, chilled entrees, for example, would be easy to pick up for dinner," he said. The hot food, too, is being merchandised with more flourish.
"We don't consider its necessary to put up signs that we offer dinner. The food itself is the sign. For example, the rotisserie chickens. They're merchandised in three places now. In the island case, in the chilled case, and at the hot counter," Kolodzieski said.
"Instead of a sign, the customer sees the chickens spinning around on the rotisserie and they're faced with that island display of chickens right away. We know we sell more when they see them so quickly. On the first day the Dacula store was open, we sold 620 rotisserie chickens just from that one self-service case," he added.
The chain has also upgraded its pizza program with a pizza station that features open production.
"You can see the associates saucing the pizza crust and adding cheese. We'll cook whole pizzas to order, and we also serve hot pizza by the slice. And chilled pizzas are displayed in an in-line case and in an island case in the aisle," Kolodzieski said.
The quality of the pizza has been upgraded as well, in all Ingles Markets. Previously a par-baked crust was used. Now, the crusts are stretched from dough that's sourced frozen and thawed at store level.
"All of those food options plus a menu board that features a meal of the week. We expect that just seeing all that fresh food will make customers think of taking food home for dinner. We have a different meal of the day for each day of the week. We have a prime rib dinner for $5.99 one day of the week, and we always have meat loaf which we make from scratch," Kolodzieski said.
"We're convinced the best way to merchandise is with the product itself. For example, a case slam full of good-looking pizza sells the product," he added.
Associates visible preparing cut produce and cutting and wrapping meat in the meat department also adds to the ambiance that says "fresh food" and "meal," said Kolodzieski.
Comfort foods such as meat loaf and macaroni and cheese have long been top sellers at Ingles Markets and the menu is devoted to such homey favorites, but trendy cappuccino has been added at the MegaStores as well. Coffee and cold drinks are available in the deli/food-service area.
While seating is available at most of Ingles stores, it was made more attractive and more like a real cafe in the MegaStores, Kolodzieski said. A dedicated cash register allows customers to get in and out quickly, too.
The Corner Cafe, which accommodates 30 people at tables and chairs, is against the front window, visible from the parking lot.
"A customer could come in and eat lunch and also get something already prepared for dinner without walking much more than 20 feet into the store," Kolodzieski said.
The new format also features wide aisles, in the "seven foot plus range, which is at least a foot wider than the widest aisle in any of the chain's other stores," Kolodzieski said.
"We're advertising the fact that we have wide aisles. It's an element that customers have told us they want. It makes the shopping experience comfortable. In our traditional stores, there were some pinch points which have been designed out," he added. "We've listened to what the customer wants and we're trying to give it to them in the MegaStores."
Asked if the chain holds focus groups or does market research to find what the customer wants, Kolodzieski said formal research is not usually the mode of gathering information.
"We're a company that believes in a hands-on management style. Our president and top management people are out in the stores every week. We spend very little time behind a desk, and that's how we find out what customers want. We just listen," Kolodzieski said.
When the first MegaStore opened, chairman Robert P. Ingle said, "The go-ahead for any program is the response of our customers, and based on continuing sales increases, it is evident that our stores are being well received."
