TAKEOUT KEY TO WEGMANS' NEW RECIPE AT PROTOTYPE

ROSEANNE HARPER

PITTSFORD, N.Y. -- Wegmans Food Markets has swerved sharply from emphasis on in-store dining to a takeout ambience at a replacement store here billed as the 55-unit chain's new prototype.

The 130,000-square-foot store replaces an 83,000-square-foot unit at the same location in this high-income suburb of Rochester.

Instead of the restaurant feel of Wegmans' former Market Cafes, the layout and decor of the prepared-foods area -- also called Market Cafe -- here makes one think of a European open-air market where you would buy food to take home and eat, said a local observer.

That view was confirmed in a statement by store manager Bill Congdon at the unit's opening. "Our focus will be on helping customers serve great-tasting food at home," he said.

Seating is de-emphasized, and ready-to-cook, value-added meats such as stuffed chops and kabobs are merchandised with freshly cooked vegetables and sauces. Trained "cooking coaches" in each fresh-food department are there specifically to coach customers and answer questions about food preparation.

A cooking school, a first for the Rochester, N.Y.-based chain, is situated next to the prepared-foods area in the store.

"This store is the nearest to showing an understanding of the consumer's psyche as any I've seen," said Stephan Kouzomis, president of Entrepreneurial Consulting, a Louisville, Ky.-based firm that works with supermarkets and manufacturers.

"You can order your food -- there's a very high level of service -- at the service counter or you can pick up prepacked meals to go. They're in island cases in the middle of the aisle. So if you were waiting at the service counter, and decided you wanted to get out quicker, you could just turn around and there's the same thing packed up [in the self-service case]," Kouzomis said.

Another retail consultant, Neil Stern, a partner in McMillan-Doolittle, Chicago, said there's little comparison to previous Wegmans prepared foods areas.

"There are big changes here like scaling back on the restaurant, but this is the place they can take risks. They have the customer base. The former store at this location was doing a million a week in sales," Stern said.

Instead of separate, food stations featuring different ethnic foods like at other Wegmans' Market Cafes, the service counter here runs at least 40 feet long and blends the fare together more as a market would, local observers told SN.

At the same time the focus turned to takeout, the food selection has been sent upscale with roast duck and Thai-glazed shrimp sharing the menu with the chain's usual lineup of in-store prepared fare. Jay Cohen, who was formerly with Bouley in New York, has joined the store's staff as executive chef.

Seating for 96 -- half as much as in some Wegmans units -- is provided on two levels. The two-level arrangement plus the fact that the area is tucked over to the side makes the seating less of a focal point than it is in other Wegmans units. Four separate checkouts are featured in the department and it has its own entrance.

"Seating is there if you need it, but when I was in there, it looked to me like people were buying their food to take home," said a local observer.

"I didn't notice any food that was being kept hot," he said. It's either cooked to order or chilled, ready-to-heat at home, or ready-to-cook at home, he added.