NEW MINYARD TIGHTENS UP FRESH MEALS PRESENTATION

LYNNE MILLER

NORTH RICHLAND HILLS, Texas -- A more compact fresh-meals department and an abundance of organic produce highlight the new Minyard Food Store here.

The 58,000-square-foot flagship unit emphasizes convenience with features designed to attract busy customers who appreciate quality, according to officials. Located next to a year-old high school in this Fort Worth suburb, the new store has a prepared meals department that includes a wide array of dishes, including those that have proven themselves at other stores -- apricot-glazed chicken, chicken grape salad and meat loaf, among other top sellers. On any given day, 18 to 20 dishes are available.

What makes this Kitchen at Minyard department different is the presentation. The retailer downsized the display space from 12 feet to eight feet for its full-service, a la carte items, said John Highbaugh, director of deli food service for Coppell, Texas-based Minyard. By reducing gaps between platters and bowls, the retailer serves up just as many prepared dishes as the other stores with the larger display areas.

"We're learning that bigger isn't always better," Highbaugh said. "We tightened the presentation. I think it makes it more eye appealing."

The retailer's goal is to become a destination food center, he said. "We're trying to get the customer to come to us for all foods," he said.

For the first time, the deli offers popular deep-fried chicken tenders in two forms. Cold, cooked and ready for reheating, the prepackaged chicken tenders are accompanied by a Bleu cheese or barbecue sauce for dipping. They're new. Customers can also order ready-to-eat tenders in the hot case.

The idea behind packaging the popular item is to win customers who are in a hurry and want to avoid waiting in line to place orders, store manager Russell Plunk said.

Next to the prepared meals department is an olive display -- a first for Minyard. Six varieties of olives, sourced primarily from Italy, are sold, along with roasted red bell peppers and fresh mozzarella balls. The items are grouped together and sold from the top portion of a split service/self-service case measuring eight feet in length.

The Mediterranean specialties are an experiment, Plunk said. If there's enough community support for higher-quality olives and the like, the retailer will consider launching olive bars at other stores.

In this competitive market -- five major chains have units within a couple of miles of the new Minyard -- the retailer is banking on a lot of support from dual-income households willing to pay for convenience. And so far, the community is supporting the newcomer, Plunk said.

The home meal replacement department "has been well-received," he said. "The neighborhood is more upscale. These are the kind of people who are in a hurry. They know they can get a good quality meal here.

"This is the niche we're going after," he said.

The staff includes two chefs, and there are plans to offer cooking classes, Plunk said. Furthermore, the store has a 32-seat cafe and coffee bar.

The store's organic produce section offers about 80 items and it's separate from the conventional produce. "Anything you can buy in produce is here," Plunk said.

There's also a fruit and juice bar that measures about 16 linear feet.

The meat department has a sausage machine that's available at only a few stores in the chain, Plunk said. With more than a dozen varieties of sausage, it's popular, particularly with people who entertain. Kielbasa is the top seller, Plunk said, while a German sausage containing cheese is another favorite.

"What I've noticed is we sell a lot on Friday, Saturday and Sunday," Plunk said. "I've heard the comment, 'This will be great while watching the football game."'

Minyard is wise to open a store in this suburban market and court modern families with time-saving prepared meals and organic products, one observer said.

"Let's face it, our time has not slowed down," said Mark Garcia, a San Antonio, Texas.-based food consultant. "We used to chuckle and say the organic thing is for tree huggers and granola heads. I think they're hitting a trend there."

The store is patterned after the format Minyard re-introduced two years ago, emphasizing customer convenience. A large selection of ready-to-cook, ready-to-heat and ready-to-eat dishes were rolled out. The use of proprietary recipes and creative presentation techniques were among the hallmarks of the new format [see "Minyard is Back on the Meals Frontier With a Three-Pronged Cook, Heat or Eat Strategy," SN, Aug. 17, 1998].

It was a major departure for the traditional supermarket company -- and an attempt to capture some business from fast-food restaurants, store officials said. They launched the concept at a handful of stores and now it has spread to about 10 units in the 83-store family-owned chain.

The new store is the only Minyard-brand store in northeast Tarrant County. The retailer operates most of its stores in Dallas County under three banners: Minyard Food Store, Sack 'n Save Warehouse Food Store and Carnival Food Store.