Food retailers are leading the store design reformation these days. Their new concepts make exciting uses of signage, materials and lighting to support and establish their brands.

“Whole Foods used design to make its stores a destination, and that changed the parameters,” says architect Hugh Boyd of Montclair, N.J. “Traditional chain supermarkets saw they could drive their business with higher-margin items like prepared foods, imported cheeses and organic produce if those departments looked attractive and inviting. They can’t compete with Wal-Mart on the price of a box of cereal, but if these specialty departments get people into their stores, they’ll get a bigger share of the consumer’s shopping basket.”

Hudson County Market (Hudson, Wis.) goes for local appeal by creating a farmer's like-setting, complete with food stalls, stations and peach-create art used as signage. Photography: Mark Steele Photography, Columbus, Ohio

Even Whole Foods finds it has to reinvent itself occasionally. When it went into an urban mall location in Chicago recently, it had to reconfigure its successful prototype over two levels, with one street entrance and one mall entrance and a whole new set of traffic patterns and merchandise adjacencies. Last fall, Publix Super Markets opened its first GreenWise Market in its home state of Florida, a farmer’s market look and feel emphasizing organic produce, fresh herbs and a greenhouse-like floral department.

As the national chains reach for regionalized flavor, the regional chains are fighting back with their own versions. A chain in the Upper Midwest used its familiarity with the local population to create a farmer’s market look and feel. Jerry’s Enterprises Inc., a grocery operator in Minnesota and Wisconsin, built this County Market in Hudson, Wis., to resemble an open-air, lodge-like store with food stalls and stations. “It’s craftsmanesque,” says Harry Steen, creative director of Design Services Group (Eden Prairie, Minn.), “with a Mission-style feel that’s very popular around here.”

That phrase, “popular around here,” may be the food retailers’ rallying cry as they fight for their share of the grocery pie and hold off the hypermarket onslaught.

Whole Foods, Chicago 

Whole Foods Market had to address a number of challenges for its new Chicago store, in a three-level urban center in the South Loop.

“Our goal was to create a workable flow through the store,” says Stephen Jovicich, ceo of Heights Venture Architects LLP (Houston).

Wines and cheeses were placed at the mall entry, with vibrant greens and deep reds to attract the eye. The service departments (meat, seafood and prepared foods) were brought to the perimeter and display cases were aligned to create a fluid edge to the otherwise rectangular space.

Whole Foods placed a cheese and wine display near the mall entrance of its South Loop Chicago store to draw shoppers inside.

Despite limited exterior glass, there’s a surprisingly abundant amount of daylighting. An educational signage program, made from cork, thermoplastic, bamboo and FSC-certified wood, educates shoppers about the sustainable materials, products and concepts within the store.

The space is the first project out of Whole Foods Midwest division seeking LEED certification.

Client: Whole Foods Market, Austin, Texas - Christine Wiegand, designer, Midwest division

Architect: Heights Venture Architects LLP, Houston - Stephen Jovicich, partner; Sam Furman, project architect; Amanda Tullos, green team coordinator

General Contractor: Tim Silvetti, Arlington Heights, Ill.

Engineer: Clive Samuels Assoc., Princeton, N.J.

Project Management: Mehmert Store Services, Sussex, Wis.

Lighting: Western Extralight, Maryland Heights, Mo.

Millwork: Capital Wood Products, St. Paul, Minn.

Materials: 3-Form, Salt Lake City; Eurostone, Chicago; Fireclay Tile, San Jose, Calif.; Georgia Pacific, Atlanta; Natural Cork, Chicago; Marmoleum, Hazleton, Pa.; Ozinga, Chicago; Purebond, Portland, Ore.; Retroplate, Provo, Utah

Photography: Courtesy of Heights Venture Architects LLP, Houston

Publix GreenWise, Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.

Publix has joined the green market trend with its first eco-friendly store. The 39,000-square-foot store offers natural and organic products in a farmer’s market-inspired environment of health and sustainability.

Publix GreenWise, in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., is a 39,000-square foot eco-friendly store complete with skylights, LEDS and fixtures made from sustainable lumber.

The space has been broken up into a number of distinctive departments, to promote the informality of the market feel and also the earth-friendly nature of the store. Special brown tags identify all-natural products.

Skylights throughout the store allow natural light to pour into the space, with a light-sensoring system that adjusts the fluorescent lighting. LEDs are used in refrigerated cases, coolers and freezers.

Fixtures are made of lumber from sustainable forests. Low-flow faucets, toilets and waterless urinals conserve water.

Brown tags on the shelves identify all natural products.

The walls were constructed from sustainable, recyclable materials. Outside, the roof system includes a soy-based, highly reflective coating, reducing the air conditioning load.

Publix has three more GreenWise Markets planned for Florida in 2008, in Boca Raton, Vero Beach and Tampa.

(No Source List)

Photography: Publix Super Markets, Lakeland, Fla.

Hudson County Market, Hudson, Wis.

Regional food retailers are trying to take advantage of their connection with the local population. Jerry’s Enterprises Inc., a grocery operator in Minnesota and Wisconsin, recently built a County Market in Hudson, Wis., resembling an open-air farmer’s market.

The market concept is meant to appeal to the area’s two primary population groups: the rurals of northwestern Wisconsin and yachters who sail on the St. Croix River. Stalls suggest fresh local produce and a streetscape interior fits into the natural landscape. “It’s not a big-box feel,” says Harry Steen, creative director of Design Services Group (Eden Prairie, Minn.).

Hudson County Market's farmer's market concept appeals to the area's rural population, as well as the yachters who sail on the St. Croix River.

Wayfinding signage resembles what the designers call “peach-crate art,” high-resolution photography printed directly onto wood, then distressed (digitally and mechanically), aged and varnished.

“Aged-looking concrete flooring gives a more ‘heritage’ look to the store,” says Steen. And, because polished concrete does not require waxing, maintenance costs will be lower.

Wayfinding signage features photography printed onto wood, then distressed for a "peach-crate art" appeal. Aged-looking concrete gives the store a more "heritage" look.

Client: Jerry’s Enterprises, Edina, Minn. - Mike Jutz, vp, facilities and equipment

Design: Architecture Design Services Group, Eden Prairie, Minn. - Harry Steen, creative director; Molly Cade, senior interior designer/graphic designer; Shawn Rasmussen, project supervisor; Terry Bright, lighting designer;

Bryan Slattery, architect

General Contractor: Kraus Anderson, Curt Kluznik, Minneapolis;

Exterior Architect: RSP Architects, Minneapolis

Fixtures: Owatonna Fixture Co., Owatonna, Minn.

Millwork: Duevel Concepts Inc., Blain, Minn.

Metalwork: Retail Design Services, Northfield, Minn.

Digital Printing/Graphics: Vomela, St. Paul, Minn.

Photography: Mark Steele Photography, Columbus, Ohio