TOPS SPINS READY-TO-EAT FARE TO FRONT IN REMODELING

ROSEANNE HARPER

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Tops Markets here is taking a head-on approach to meals merchandising by pulling its ready-to-eat fare up front at a remodeled International store in Amherst, N.Y.

The move at this international-format unit of Tops is designed to offer customers more convenience and boost sales of takeout foods, officials said.

"My vision is to take the routine out of grocery shopping. That's why the Carry Out Cafe in Tops International has been moved to the front," said Steve Odland, Tops president and chief executive officer, in a recent statement to the press.

A store-level source said he expected the new setup, which places prepared foods front and center, to double chicken-dinner sales at the remodeled store.

Meantime, Bing Yang, owner of Rice Garden, a Chinese restaurant chain that has a lease agreement with Tops, is already reporting significant sales increases at his restaurant inside the Tops unit. His sales are up a full 20% just in the four weeks since the store's remodeling, he said.

"Our restaurants that face the store's entrance, in any supermarket we're in, generate more business than those that don't," Yang said.

The new positioning of freshly prepared food stations at the remodeled international-format unit here represents a sharp departure for Tops. It's a first, and will probably be duplicated or simulated in new stores and remodels, said a source at the 77-unit chain's corporate offices.

"This is absolutely our strategy. We're taking a new direction," she said. The company has four other units it calls its International stores.

Upon entering the 112,000-square-foot, revamped Tops unit here, customers are now faced with what looks like a never-ending selection of different types of food, ready to eat, from grilled hamburgers to sesame-orange chicken to hot pizza.

To forward the "fresh message" in this way, the company tore down a wall of values that stood between the entrance and the assemblage of food stations, which form a rectangle around an open prep area. Previously, customers had to walk around a wall displaying such items as brushes and other hardgoods before they could see what was offered to eat.

Now, customers' senses are immediately engaged with a panorama of food selections, a sizzling grill and intermingling cooking aromas. Not only that, but large, attractive color photos of meals arranged on dinner plates are suspended from the ceiling.

The use of such photos is commonly employed by quick-service restaurants to quickly say "meal" to the customer.

Directly ahead inside the entrance is the "Hot Top Grill" where customers can get breakfast for $3.49 or a hearty breakfast platter for $4.99, from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. Lunch is served from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.; dinner, 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. A meal combo platter, which includes a choice of entree, two sides and corn bread, is $5.99. A hot sandwich plate, with one side, is $4.99. So is a whole, fire-roasted chicken.

Such eclectic items as Jamaican jerk chicken and Cajun catfish were featured on the menu board over the grill when SN visited the store last month. In addition, the basic menu, which lists hot sandwiches, entrees and sides, is offered for the taking in a plexiglas rack on the counter.

To the right of the grill is the Rice Garden Chinese Cookery, which spans a length of at least 12 feet. There, the best-seller is orange-sesame chicken, proprietor Yang told SN. Backlit photos above the wok stations at Rice Garden show combo meals on attractive plates.

Next in line is a sushi bar operated by Advanced Fresh Concepts, Compton, Calif. Japanese beer is cross merchandised at the sushi counter.

Next is a pizza station where pizza is sold by the whole pie and by the slice, hot. Chilled, take-and-bake pies were also offered from a self-service case fronting the pizza station. The next element is a 12- to 15-foot service case that offers a variety of chilled entrees piled high on platters.

Following that case is a tiered, refrigerated, self-service case offering packaged wrap sandwiches, sub sandwiches and a variety of full meals on compartmented plates. Examples are meat loaf with two sides for $4.99, and stuffed shells, with green beans and bread, $5.99. No reheating instructions were offered on the packages, which was a contrast to what SN observed in a nearby unit of Wegmans Food Markets, where prepared foods carried reheating instructions and even serving suggestions.

In the self-service case at Tops, prepacked green salads shared shelf space with the sandwiches and chilled meals. They included some interesting varieties, such as spinach-feta-pecan for $3.99.

Several desserts in single-serve packages were displayed in that case also. Positioned in a featured spot on the top tier the day SN visited the store were wedges of pumpkin cheese cake for $1.75 each.

At the end of the chilled, prepacked case, the counter turns left. There, a salad bar offers traditional items, priced at $3.99 a pound.

Alongside the salad bar is a self-service soup bar offering three varieties. On the day SN visited, the varieties were chili, cheese and chicken rice. Retail prices: 8 ounces, $1.69; 16 ounces, $2.89.

At the end of the soup bar, the counter makes a left and the traditional service deli begins. Next comes a kosher service deli that offers what Odland has called "the largest selection of kosher foods between Toronto and New York City."

Beyond the kosher deli, beverages and pastries are offered at a service counter. Espresso-based drinks are included in the selection. Across the aisle from the service beverage counter seating is offered.

An olive bar faces the service deli counter and a specialty-cheese island lies just beyond that. That is about the same setup as at other Tops International stores. Here, the visibility of the deli and meals programs has been heightened and signage and menus have been given a traditional food-service establishment look.