NEW STOP & SHOP POPS BAKERY IN ITS OWN DESTINATION SPOT

ROSEANNE HARPER

STAMFORD, Conn. -- Bucking an industry trend, Stop & Shop Cos. has positioned the in-store bakery in its newest unit here many aisles away from the primary prepared-foods area, which chain officials said they hope helps spread out the in-store excitement.

The Quincy, Mass.-based chain's philosophy expressly calls for keeping the departments physically separated, while many other supermarket operators recently have begun to pull their in-store bakeries closer to their food-service/deli departments, to make them more a part of a fresh-meals market atmosphere.

"The bakery is a lively department, a destination," explained George Pauley, vice president of produce sales, procurement and perishables concepts at the 186-unit chain. "We could bring it over to the food court and create even heavier traffic in that aisle, but then what would we do for an encore at the end of the 60,000 or 70,000 feet of the store?"

The new store, a 60,000-square-foot unit in the downtown area here, unveils Stop & Shop's first full-blown food court. But its placement of the in-store bakery is not out of the ordinary for the chain.

"In most of our stores, the bakeshop is on the opposite side of the store [from the food-service department]," Pauley pointed out, and he added that the chain has no plans to change the department's location in new or remodeled stores.

But no matter where it is in the store, the bakery does supply the food court with fresh-baked submarine sandwich rolls and doughnuts and other breakfast pastries.

At the new store, the food court begins with a salad bar and Caesar salad station just inside the entrance on the right side of the store. The bakery is in the opposite front corner of the store just inside a second, left-side entrance.

"Bakery as well as pharmacy are destinations over there and bakery keeps that side of the store lively," Pauley said.

A hot-bread program in the bakery helps keep the action going in that aisle. Italian and French breads are baked throughout the day, and touted as "hot from our ovens between 4 and 6 p.m."

Also at this particular store, a selection of fresh-brewed Green Mountain coffee is offered self-service in the bakery. A popular brand in New England, Green Mountain is being sold by the cup in a test involving a dozen Stop & Shop bakeries, Pauley said.