MARSH STORE OFFERING NEW READY-TO-EAT CONVENIENCE

ROSEANNE HARPER

CARMEL, Ind. -- Marsh Supermarkets has put convenience on the menu at a new store here where it has combined ready-to-eat food concepts in new ways.

Bagels and bagel sandwiches, for example, have been brought to the espresso bar for the first time and soups and a service salad station have been newly positioned near a made-to-order sandwich counter.

The overall look of the fresh food aisle, too, is different at the from-the-ground-up store here.

An open marketplace feel has been achieved by bundling elements that have dramatic flare, such as the coffee bar and panini grill, near the front where they're visible through the front window. Floral is straight ahead inside the entrance and seating, also visible through the window, is just to the left. The traffic pattern, too, is more meandering -- as it would be in a marketplace -- than it is at other Marsh units.

An open-production, boiled bagel operation is the first element on the right just inside the entry way to the fresh aisle. While bagels are offered there, they also are offered at the espresso bar. "Neither the bagel operation nor the espresso bar are new for the chain but bringing bagels and coffee together is logical and it's convenient for the customer in the morning and at lunchtime," a local observer said.

And soups offered in other stores are nearer the salad bar instead of at the sandwich station. Officials at the 80-unit chain's corporate offices in Indianapolis declined to comment on the new store.