ETHNIC GOODS CENTER STAGE AT EDWARDS BROOKLYN UNIT

MARYELLEN LO BOSCO

BROOKLYN -- Edwards Super Food Stores, a division of Giant Food Stores, Carlisle, Pa., has retooled its suburban prototype to create a double aisle of ethnic groceries for its first urban unit.

The new store celebrated its grand opening Sept. 30 in the heart of inner-city Flatbush here.

According to Denny Hopkins, spokesman for the Giant chain, a subsidiary of Ahold USA, Atlanta, at least 100 different changes were made in the planogram to create Edwards' first urban store. Hopkins attended the grand opening, along with Carl Schlicker, regional vice president, and other Giant chain executives and neighborhood dignitaries.

More than one happy shopper told SN that "We've been waiting for this store." Before the arrival of Edwards, people in the neighborhood had to rely on either small "bodegas" or minimarts with a limited selection of items, or on two small area grocery stores: a C-Town and a Key Food. According to Hopkins, there are 198,000 people living in the 1-mile radius around the new store.

Most residents -- about 70% -- are Caribbean, of West Indian or Haitian descent, with a strong identification with their roots, according to Patrick Quimbly, district manager for Goya Foods, who also attended the grand opening. The rest of the neighborhood for the most part is African-American.

The double aisle, 10 and 11, is placed in the middle of the store, where the snack plaza would be in Edwards' newest suburban prototype (SN, July 20, 1998). As with the previous Edwards prototype that SN reported on, a smaller center aisle has been placed in the middle of the very wide double aisle, creating a distinctive section.

Aisle 10 is marked "Pasta, Jamaican, Canned Meat-Fish, Spaghetti Sauce and Mexican." Aisle 11 is marked with major vendor names: Goya, Iberia, La Cena, Vitarroz and Badia Spices. Also here is "Chinese," "Rice" and "Kosher." This setup allows merchandising of Goya and other major vendors that are considered to be more generically Hispanic to share one side of an aisle, while specifically Jamaican products are given their own section. (The Mexican section consists of mainstream, national-brand products.)

The double aisle also differs from the previous prototype in that the smaller middle aisle inside the section extends only halfway up from the back of the store. The space at the front of the store is used to merchandise large stacks of grocery products prominently displayed at hot prices.

During SN's visit, La Cena condensed milk (Mellocream) was on sale, 14 ounces for 99 cents. Nestle's Milo, a fortified chocolate drink in 14-ounce cans, sold at two for $5. La Cena canned beans in many varieties in 16-ounce cans were selling at three for $1.

In addition to the distinctive Hispanic products, such as white hominy, nectars, sofrito and recaito (sauces), soda crackers and many varieties of canned peppers, there are numerous types of rices and corn meal available, key components in the Caribbean diet.

Large sizes of staples, like rice and beans, are prominently displayed. Quimbly of Goya told SN that it is common for people to buy large quantities of these items and ship them to relatives in various countries, who would have to pay twice or three times more for the same items in their home country.

In the Jamaican section are all the items that are de rigueur for capturing the West Indian customer: kola champagne and ginger beer, for example, and West Indian malta. Ahold has even created a private-label variety of West Indian favorites. SN found them in aisle 7, with the mainstream sodas: Finast brand of Caribbean Cooler and Champagne Cola.

In addition to the impressive selection of Hispanic products appealing to a wide spectrum of customers in the grocery aisle, there is a matching selection in the frozen case. Here are packaged sauces and fruits and vegetables that appeal particularly to a Caribbean and African-American customer (cassava, yucca, pigeon peas, papaya, coconut, tamarind, guava, collard greens, rutabaga, turnips and okra). Also here are packages of empanadillas, platanos, tamales and pork pasteles.

A Wall of Values is placed in both the produce aisle and in front of the cash registers. Here, items at hot prices are merchandised in huge floor stacks. SN has seen a similar strategy used in stores on the West Coast with a large Hispanic customer base, where a Wall of Values is very popular.

Ethnic products can be found throughout the store, in all the periphery departments, in the bath and body shop and even in the greeting-card section. There are Spanish-language cards, for example, as well as numerous cards depicting people of color.

Nonetheless, the store also carries Edwards' standard selection of mainstream items and uses some of the solution-selling concepts of its newest suburban prototype. For example: "The Clean Zone" is used in the cleaning and detergent aisle, as is the "Bath and Body" shop; modified versions of the baby solution center and the seasonal center are also being used.

In building this store, Giant worked with a task force that included representatives from neighborhood civic groups. This helped the retailer to address unique customer needs and concerns. The chain also did its homework when it came to product selection by visiting neighborhood stores to see what is stocked.

One concern brought up by the taskforce was that the supermarket needed to feel safe, which led to Edwards' hiring round-the-clock guards, for both the store and the rooftop parking lot, and providing additional surveillance cameras. The store is open from 6 a.m. to midnight. Edwards is sharing "mall" space and the provision of security with newly opened Staples and Old Navy retail stores.

While safety is an issue, the store is nevertheless located in a thriving, working-class urban community. The 200 store personnel are local hires, who came from a pool of more than 1,000 applicants.

"We were impressed with the quality of the applicants," Hopkins said. "The people here are hard working and industrious. Some of them have two or three jobs."

Customer comments ranged from delight to surprise to skepticism. Some people wondered how low the prices would stay and how long the prices would stay low. Others told SN, unsolicited, that there had been no good place to shop before the opening of this unit.

According to customers as well as Hopkins, some people take taxis to and from larger grocery stores outside the neighborhood, and some may need to cab it to Edwards. Finally, one woman told SN, unsolicited, that "They have our stuff here."

Edwards plans to create additional urban sites: one in Co-op City in the Bronx next year, and additional units in Brooklyn and Queens.