Noting that there has been "a theatrical approach to food" as of late, South Africa's Woolworths Food created a new grocery market design that would truly give people show. With shop-in-shop stations, the store is broken up into areas where it's possible to see the meat being chopped, coffee being roasted, flowers being cut, sushi being rolled and bread being baked. As well as bringing authenticity to the way food is handled at the grocery market, signage, flooring and interior materials also play a huge part in reigniting that charming old world feel.
Rather than being organized into long processional aisles, these smaller arrangements make it much easier to get around, especially since this store spans over 25,000 square feet and is the largest store in the entire Woolwoorths Food chain.
Theatrical Grocery Markets
Woolworths Food Embraces a Design That Shows Behind the Scenes Action
Trend Themes
1. Theatrical Food Preparation - Opportunity for grocery stores to create a visually engaging experience by showcasing food preparation in a theatrical manner.
2. Shop-in-shop Stations - Potential for retailers to incorporate separate stations within their stores to highlight specific food preparation activities and enhance customer engagement.
3. Charming Old World Feel - Opportunity to use signage, flooring, and interior materials to create a nostalgic ambiance that resonates with customers in the grocery market industry.
Industry Implications
1. Grocery Market - Disruptive innovation opportunity for grocery markets to revamp store layouts and incorporate visual elements of food preparation to enhance customer experience.
2. Retail Design - Potential for retail design firms to specialize in creating shop-in-shop stations and designing stores with a charming old world feel to meet the growing demand in the grocery market industry.
3. Restaurant Equipment - Opportunity for manufacturers of restaurant equipment to develop specialized equipment for theatrical food preparation that can be installed in grocery stores, enabling them to provide an immersive in-store experience.