Top(s) of the Roc

Tops Markets puts a new spin on grocery shopping in the Rochester, N.Y., market with a smaller, easy-to-shop prototype.   A half-mile can make a world of difference. In the case of Tops Markets it equates to a 50% jump in overall sales, a $7,000 weekly increase in meat, doubling of deli volume, tripling of fresh pineapples and a whopping 213% increase in cut produce, not to mention the estimated 20% savings in the electric bill. This all happened when Tops relocated its store in the Rochester, N.Y., suburb of Irondequoit from 1455 Ridge Road East to a new, smaller, prototype at 999 Ridge Road East. Company officials expect those sales increases to be a harbinger of things to come for Tops Markets’ other Monroe County locations, several of which are slated to be relocated or remodeled into the new format. “This store is actually slightly smaller than the one it replaced—about 10,000 square feet—but it is a much more efficient layout,” says Frank Curci, president and CEO of Tops Markets, based in Buffalo. He adds that while smaller in size it actually offers shoppers more in the way of product selection and services. “This is much more an example of what we are doing today, and in our first four weeks we were 50% above what the old store was doing. It has been a real success story.” Those skyrocketing sales numbers are no small feat, especially since the move puts Tops geographically closer to outlets of low-price-leader Walmart Supercenter and hometown favorite Wegmans. To label Wegmans the “hometown favorite” of Rochester—dubbed the ‘Roc’ by locals—is an understatement. The chain is ingrained in the fabric of the city. Banners touting Wegmans $6.00 Meal Deals hang from the rafters in the lobby of the Rochester International Airport and for many Rochesterians (or Roc-ers), Wegmans has assumed the corporate parent role once held by Eastman Kodak. That helps explain why for years Tops gave its Rochester stores the short shrift. “Although we’re an Upstate New York company, for a long time the Rochester market was one that we almost ‘ignored,’” Curci says. “The greater Buffalo and Erie County market was always the area where we did the most sales and profits, so most of the [capital investment] money went there.” Although only an hour apart, economically Buffalo and Rochester are totally different animals. Buffalo is more blue collar with healthcare and government major employers; Rochester is white collar and high-tech. “We tried to do the same thing in Rochester we did in Buffalo and it really didn’t work that well,” Curci says. “Our stores generally were in the wrong area and were too big. As a consequence they didn’t make as much money.” That is the case in Irondequoit. The old freestanding store was along a desolate stretch of Ridge Road East adjacent to Medley Centre, a regional “dead mall” where Sears is the only remaining tenant. Since the lease was coming due, Curci says it made more sense to relocate rather than remodel the existing store. “It is much more efficient to build from the ground-up when you have a new prototype,” Curci says. “It actually costs more to retrofit an old store, especially a box that wasn’t really designed well from the beginning.” The move down the street to a new shopping center built on the site of a long-abandoned Kmart brought better neighbors, including Home Depot next door, and Rainbow Shops and Rent-A-Center in the same plaza. Panera Bread and Rochester’s first Sonic Drive-In are being built out front by the Tops gas station. “The developer/landlord had some good vision here and this whole area is really changing,” Curci says. “It is on the good side of town and we are attracting customers from all demographics.” When they arrive at Tops those customers have a choice of two entrances. “Our new prototype starts with the outside,” Curci says. “We have dual entrances with towers on either side. It is the look we want and encourages the traffic flow we want to engage in inside the store.” The left entrance/exit leads to pharmacy and the bakery department, while the other more heavily trafficked right one opens up into floral and the Market Fresh Produce department. “We want that dramatic ‘Wow!’ entrance where you walk in and see produce and floral and all the colors and all of the freshness,” Curci says. “That is what we want people’s first impressions to be.” That freshness is blooming in the form of gallon-container tropical plants ($12.00 each) surrounding tables stacked high with fresh-baked cakes, a refrigerated coffin case well-stocked with Zweigle’s hot dogs—Rochester’s home town favorite—plus a wall filled with locally produced artisan grocery products, including Country Sweet, “probably the most popular sauce in Rochester,” says store manager Alex Devens. The produce is complemented by dark wood fixtures, vibrant green walls and wood laminate flooring. “In the past our stores were largely white and gray and very stark colors,” Curci says. “We tried to introduce a lot of warm colors that identify departments, green in produce and blue in seafood.” The prototype allows for more produce offerings. “We’ve expanded a lot of the variety in our produce department, specifically in ethnic areas, and our sales reflect that,” Devens says. New offerings include six-foot stalks of sugar cane, Ajicito peppers, tamarind, batatas root and ice cream beans—the pod fruit of a South American tropical tree whose creamy pulp flesh tastes remarkably like vanilla ice cream. In Tops, like beer, watermelons are sold at room temperature or cold as a convenience for customers picking one up to take to a picnic. “Cut fruit has been a booming area for us,” Devens says. “Our sales are up 213% over last year. It is a differentiating factor for us because we cut our produce in our store and our competitor does not.” “We think we do produce better than anybody,” Curci says. “Wegmans has a great reputation for produce, but we know that our quality and variety are second to none.” That includes green water coconuts. “It is one of the new items we tried and I can tell you I am selling two cases a week,” says Joe Miceli, produce manager. “People love them.” 165 pineapples The love affair carries over to pineapples. “We’ve been doing about 165 pineapples a week; in the old store maybe we sold 50 on a good week,” Miceli says. That is because Tops now sells its pineapples both whole and cored—for an everyday price of $2.99. “A pineapple probably doesn’t make it onto too many people’s shopping lists, but when they see it and that it is cored they will say, ‘oh yeah, I can get that for three bucks,’” Devens says. Across from produce is the 64-foot long Wall of Values. “Everything here is a great value to our customer,” Devens says, adding, “We change at least half of it weekly to coincide with our weekly circular.” Produce leads into the Marketplace Deli where a variety of brands, including locally popular Sahlen’s and Zweigle’s, are carried. “Our sales in this deli department are about double what they were in the old store,” says Ethel Jeffers, deli manager. She notes that many of the salads are made in store, as is the proprietary-recipe fried chicken. “Fried chicken is a huge seller in this area,” Devens says. “We have the best fried chicken in town. Customers tell us that all the time.” That is why 50- and even 100-piece custom orders are common. Other new additions to the deli department include a sandwich program featuring bread baked in-store, paninis, pizza, take-and-bake strombolis, an olive bar and a wing bar. “We have partnered with Anchor Bar, which is where the original Buffalo chicken wing was invented,” Curci says. “And actually our wing spec is better than what you get at Anchor Bar. We have a bigger, meatier wing.” After grabbing a hot slice of pizza or panini, shoppers can help themselves to a cup of coffee or other beverage at the Tim Horton’s Express counter and then enjoy their meal at the adjacent dining area. Unlike Wegmans, which showcases foodservice and seating at the front of the store, in the Tops prototype it is in the back. “It is a little more intimate back here,” says Laura Charron, district manager. “It is more like a dining area than a seating area. We have WiFi so you can sit and relax, along with the overhead flatscreen TV. The customers have been very positive and complimentary about it.” After chilling out in the dining area customers can head to the neighboring service seafood case, where—no surprise—sales have increased. “We prepare our seafood salad fresh every day in three flavors and we do a lot of marinating,” says Irma Miranda, seafood manager. “Plus we have special packaging where you just take off the lid and put the tray into the oven. The customers really like that convenience because they don’t have to dirty their own pans.” The adjacent Butcher Block service meat case is another new addition. “This full-service meat case has been a great success for us,” says Devens. “We have a lot of grab-and-go items for dinner. It gives our customers a lot of different options and people like seeing that butcher there and that we can cut meat to their specifications.” “Meat is a big differentiator for us,” says Curci. “We’re the only major supermarket in town that actually has butchers in the store who cut meat every day. Our butchers know how to cook and they can give advice to customers on how to prepare something. It is amazing to me that in the drive for efficiency people have taken that out of the stores, but meat is still center of the plate and something that is very important to people.” That is being seen in increased meat case traffic. “I am probably doing $6,000 or $7,000 more a week in meat than I did up the street,” says Hector Jimenez, meat manager. Especially popular is the Pick 5 program, where shoppers go to a dedicated case and pick five assorted packages of pork ribs, stew meat, chopped meat, chicken breasts and other proteins for $19.99. “We’ve been number-one in the company with the Pick 5, with more than a thousand units being sold every week,” Jimenez says. A similar program is offered in the frozen case with battered fish fillets, corn dogs, mini pizzas, chicken nuggets and other items under the Signature Pick 5 Brand made by Signature Foods of Pendergrass, Ga. Across from the meat department a large coffin case is well stocked with pierogies from Nowinski’s and the Rochester-produced The Pierogie Guy brand, which retail for $9.99 a dozen. “We have a large Eastern European population around here and one of their favorite foods is pierogies,” says Devens. “They have a much higher price point than a Mrs. T’s or our private label, but you get what you pay for and these are phenomenal.” “A lot of people used to have to go to the Public Market [farmers market] to get them, but now that we have them they come here,” Jimenez says. Thanks to the addition of upright door cases, frozen foods have been greatly expanded, up to 40%, says Devens. However, in an unusual twist, frozen cakes, pies, Cool Whip and other frozen toppings are not merchandised in the frozen food aisle, but at the front of the dairy aisle, next to the in-store bakery. “The adjacency is helpful for shoppers, especially for the toppings,” Devens says. Nuts for donuts    Bakery is another differentiator for Tops, Curci says. “Our bakeries do a lot of business and we specialize in both breads and sweets,” he says. “We actually fry our donuts right here in the store. The other stores have pre-fried donuts or others that are just bake-off. The difference in taste is unbelievable, so our following for donuts is really strong.” The Doissant has also built up quite a following. It is Tops’ answer to the Cronut—the doughnut/croissant hybrid pastry that has taken New York City by storm. They are merchandised in two-packs on a circular table in front of the department. “We sell out of our Doissants every day,” Devens says. Other popular items include proprietary pepperoni bread; real whipped cream cakes, parfaits and stuffed croissants; cupcakes and individual cake slices, sold complete with a fork for easy dining. In the grocery aisles a greatly expanded ethnic hair care section is being tested. “This is something unique to our store and we’ve made a big commitment to it,” Devens says. The bulk food section, offering a combination of packaged and self-serve, has also been expanded. “We’ve experimented in stores with trying to take it out, but the customers want it,” Charron says. “Candy and snacks are the biggest component, but we also have a small section in our pet food aisle.” At the front of the store there is a combination of manned and self-serve checkout lanes. “Wegmans and Walmart really don’t have the self-checkouts,” Curci says. “About 30% of our customers use the self-checkout. It is amazing the cross-section of people. You expect the younger, more tech-friendly people, but our older customers like it too because they like to look at the prices they are being charged.” Above the checkouts black-and-white murals show images of historic and contemporary Irondequoit, including the popular Jack Rabbit roller coaster at the Sea Breeze Amusement Park along Lake Ontario. Fill’er up! Chief among the new departments and services offered in Tops Markets’ new Irondequoit prototype is the gas station in the front of the parking lot. “The gas station is a big draw for us,” says Laura Charron, Tops district manager. That is largely because of the Buffalo-based chain’s Gas Points program, which rewards shoppers with 10-cents off a gallon of gas fill-up for every $100 that they spend in the store, with extra Gas Points added in during promotions. “It is a great loyalty factor because the more customers spend the more Gas Points they get,” says Frank Curci, president and CEO. “Many customers save up all of their gas points so they will get $1 or $2 off a gallon. That is a real motivator for people,” he says. “It is not unusual for people to get $20-off on a fill-up,” Curci says. “That is a big differentiator for us. Among our major competitors, Walmart and Wegmans, we are the only ones who offer gas.” Gas Points is another tool in Tops Markets’ value proposition, Curci says, along with double coupons and carrying more national brands than competitors. “People are very conscious about the price of gas and will drive far just to save a penny or two. It is just the way people are set,” he says. “So when you can accumulate points and get dollars off per gallon it is a real motivator of shopping habits. It really encourages people to shop across the store and do all of their shopping here.”