WEST POINT MARKET BRINGS BEST TO NEW CAFE

ROSEANNE HARPER

AKRON, Ohio -- West Point Market, the upscale specialty store that has always put an emphasis on perishables, has researched the supermarket and food-service industries and combined the best of the best in a renovated and expanded cafe.

The results are gratifying, officials said. They've seen a 135% surge in sales over the same period a year ago and they give much of the credit to two new elements: a chef-staffed salad station and a chef-staffed sandwich station.

"Making salads and sandwiches in front of our guests emphasizes freshness and uniqueness," said Russell Vernon, the store's chairman.

Some of the credit for the cafe's sales success also goes to an overall upscaling of the menu, which features some unusual items.

"We worked from a collection of menus, about 75 of them, that we saved from store visits. We studied the best ideas and tried them out in our test kitchen, adding our own thoughts and twists to the recipes. What we came out with were some unique food combinations that are upscale, like artichoke lemon pesto as a sandwich base," Vernon said.

Theater and tempting combos are being used to showcase freshness and service in the deli at progressive supermarkets and alternate formats, and Vernon thought it a sure bet that West Point customers would like the appeal of building their own sandwiches from a long list of interesting ingredients. He was right.

"I know my customers. I knew they would love this," he said.

Indeed, the stand-out chef stations, where customers can choose from 36 ingredients -- including such things as grilled salmon, roast turkey, pepper bacon, dried tart cherries, grilled zucchini, caramelized onions, goat cheese, toasted pine nuts, yellow and red cherry tomatoes, and five homemade dressings -- were originally scheduled to be manned from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Now, four months after the new cafe's debut, the stations are staffed all day long to keep up with demand.

Both stations give customers an impressive list of ingredients from which to choose. The sandwiches are all made on fresh-baked bread, some of it baked from scratch and some bake-off. Bread varieties are listed on the menu board. So are spreads. The menu and a handout sheet tell customers to select a bread and spread, their favorite meat and cheeses, and then direct the chef as to what toppings, displayed at the station, to put on their sandwich.

A host at the cafe's entrance, which is inside West Point Market, hands out menus and explains to customers how the create-your-own sandwich and salad stations work.

If customers don't want to create their own, they have a choice of signature sandwiches on the menu. There's turkey Reuben, for example, with roast turkey, coleslaw, Emmentaler Swiss and Thousand Island dressing, for $7.99. The Tuscan, which has the highest retail price, at $8.19, includes Genoa salami, prosciutto, cappicola, provolone, roast tomatoes and vinaigrette on West Point's own crusty pain rustique.

One of the salad menu items is salmon insalate, which contains grilled salmon, red onion, Mama Lil's pickled peppers, eggs, mixed greens and a choice of dressing. Homemade dressings include a white French and a cream-based Stilton. Available in two sizes, the salads range in price from $3.99 to $10.99.

Another eye-catcher in the cafe is a new rotisserie that features an open flame. There, meats are roasted for the sandwiches and for the store's prepared-food case, which has been expanded by 16 feet to make a total length of 56 feet.

If the open-flame rotisserie and the chef stations are reminiscent of EatZi's, the Dallas-based hybrid restaurant and market, that's no accident. In fact, Vernon said he regularly gathers ideas from around the country and a visit to an EatZi's in Maryland spurred the idea for the manned salad and sandwich stations. In his travels, he's constantly looking for ideas he can adapt at West Point, he said.

"I always say if you copy one idea it's stealing, but if you bring back several and combine them with your own twist, that's called research. I find a lot of ideas in New York. That's the greatest retail laboratory in the world. Pieces of our cafe are taken from Sarabeth's in New York, and from Zagara's in Mt. Union, N.J., and Whole Foods Market in Austin, Texas."

Menu ideas at West Point Market have been adapted from those at supermarkets -- the idea for West Point's signature pot pie was born from a visit years ago to Schnuck Markets, St. Louis -- as well as restaurants, caterers, tearooms and food shops around the world, including Fauchon's in Paris and New York, and Harrod's in London, Vernon said.

The cafe, called Beside the Point, has also tripled in size, to 1,500 square feet. As part of a total renovation of the store that involved major reconfigurations, it was moved to a different wall and bumped out into the parking lot, with floor-to-ceiling windows.

The layout of the cafeteria-style cafe is more open and the decor features brick walls and wood beams.

Seating accommodates 70 people. Prior to the launch of the chef-manned stations, the cafe was basically a self-service operation, officials said.

Its former 500-square-foot niche in the store will be the site of a new tearoom.

"We really needed more space for the cafe. It's a destination designed to keep people in the store longer," Vernon said.