Branding accents can help weave a holistic design concept throughout the store.
By Erin Rigik Del Conte, Senior Editor
A convenience store’s design can convey an unconscious message to customers about its values, brand and food quality. Today, many convenience store chains are remodeling to feature a modern, upscale look that showcases their brand message from forecourt to the checkout counter.
Des Moines, Iowa-based Kum & Go, which operates more than 400 stores in 11 states, introduced a prototype last year and since then has rolled out a total of 27 locations that incorporate this updated design. Its latest location to feature the design opened its doors in Colorado Springs at the beginning of May. While Kum & Go operates 16 locations within the area, it’s the second location in the area to feature the prototype.
“We call the store prototype the ‘Marketplace.’ Every Marketplace has a Go Fresh Market (what Kum & Go calls its fresh food area), and then many of our other stores that don’t use the Marketplace design also have a Go Fresh Market as we focus on food increasingly with our stores,” said Kristie Bell, communications director for Kum & Go.
A key feature of the Marketplace is an expanded and open food preparation area. In the Marketplace stores, the food counter for the Go Fresh Market is located in the front and center of the store, so customers see it the moment they enter, and understand that Kum & Go is a destination for fresh food.
The Go Fresh Market also shows employees preparing the food. “Associates are making pizzas front and center,” Bell said. “They’re making made-to-order sandwiches in front of the customer after they’ve been ordered. This really helps bust some of those myths around convenience store food that it’s all frozen or prepared somewhere else. In our case, it’s prepared fresh in store and you can see associates doing that.”
Bell noted that Kum & Go has seen an uptick in food sales in stores with open kitchens. “When they can see it, then they know it’s fresh.”
BRAND ACCENTS
Beyond food, the Marketplace prototype features a “rustic, industrial” feel, which Bell noted is a popular type of design right now. “We have concrete floors with lots of neutral colors and wood accents. We’re using quartz countertops, which gives it a little more of a ‘luxe’ feel.” The store also features accents of red—Kum & Go’s signature color.
Kum & Go’s brand tag line is ‘Where & Means More’ and the chain added the brand accent of the & symbol throughout the design. For example, a discernible red ampersand that lights up hangs from the ceiling, and the door handles of the Marketplace store are ampersands. Outside of some of the Marketplace stores an eight-foot ampersand greets guests. Kum & Go partnered with a local art company in Des Moines, Iowa called Sticks to create the giant ampersand.
“We work with them to find local attractions and the things that define a community and then they painted those on the ampersand in a way that’s fun. The back side of the ampersand features our core values and the things that are important to us,” Bell said. “We call it a love letter to the community. We wanted it to be something to inspire hometown pride. We’ll see people taking selfies in front of it or graduation photos.”
LITTLE TOUCHES
The Marketplace store also features a seating area for 20-30 people with natural accents, such as bamboo-topped tables. The outside seating has to withstand the elements, so the tables there are made from aluminum, but feature a wood-grain feel. Free Wi-Fi and charging stations for smartphones or laptops also add a welcoming touch.
Inside the store, Kum & Go offers clear aisles and easy to navigate zones. “When you walk in our store it’s an open space. It gives customers room to breath. They can see where they are going. They can clearly see the kitchen and where the fountain drinks are,” Bell said.
Instead of regular perpendicular or parallel gondolas, the gondolas in the Marketplace stores are only four-feet high and resemble pods that are set at an angle, making it easier for customers to scan the store.
When planning the design, Kum & Go also took into account what would make the store a better place to work for associates. “We had heard that cleaning tile floors and grout is really a time consuming and arduous process. So the floors in our Marketplace store are polished concrete, and so it’s much easier to clean,” Bell said.
BEER & WINE
Not all design changes incorporate the entire convenience store.
After Pennsylvania changed its beer laws, Rutter’s began adding beer caves to its locations at the end of September. Today, nine stores are selling beer and four more are under construction. A number of the stores were new builds with beer caves incorporated into the design from the beginning. Existing locations needed to remain open while adding
the cave.
“We made sure we didn’t close the stores. The stores did a great job of working around the contractors and at times we had to put temporary counters up,” said Robert Perkins, vice president of marketing for Rutter’s, which has 68 locations in York, Pa. “In some cases we’ve actually busted out the side or the back of the store to add display space and cave space and enhance the seating.”
Seating has been a big part of Rutter’s strategy over the last decade because of its focus on foodservice, so while some stores needed additional seating, Perkins noted it wasn’t a “big add” and overall contributed to a better presentation. “Our big strategy is to make sure we have four to six cooler doors of beer, and inside those doors is typically where we would have singles and six-packs, and then we have a cave entrance door.”
Rutter’s partnered with shelving manufacturer Technibuilt.
Design-wise, Rutter’s wanted to make the beer cave as bright as possible. It uses LED lighting inside and on the exterior, and features LED digital media for advertising. “We use actually either a 542-inch or 550-inch TVs across the front of the caves with messaging about advertising and specials. We use a blue Marley covering on the front doors and the exterior of the cave portraying the cold (29 degrees) atmosphere,” Perkins said.
Rutter’s is also adding wine sales, and very recently six locations were up and running with a wine selection, located in the same licensed areas as the beer.
“Wherever we have beer we are going to be adding wine,” Perkins said.
For the wine section, Rutter’s worked with a local manufacturer to develop wine racks to display 750-milliliter and 1.5-liter wine bottles, and three-liter (the limit per purchase by Pennsylvania law) box wine.
Rutter’s internal team created side panels and graphics for the wine section using earth tones to convey a more upscale feel. It also uses graphics to tie its wine offering with its foodservice. All the little touches work to make Rutter’s a destination for beer and wine.