Planning an effective retrofit strategy starts with benchmarking
By Jonathan Tan, VP Energy Services The AMS Group, Hillphoenix Download Infographic Supermarkets are the most electricity-intensive commercial buildings, using an average of 51.5 kilowatt-hours per square foot per year at a cost of about $3.70 per square foot per year. In terms of operating budget, energy is the second largest expense for food retailers after labor. In fact, given the industry’s thin profit margin, it’s estimated that it takes $18 in sales to pay off $1 of the electric bill.* The good news is there are several system retrofits and other energy upgrades that significantly improve electricity efficiency – [...]
Are energy upgrades worth it to grocers?
By Jonathan Tan, VP Energy Services The AMS Group, Hillphoenix Download Infographic Food retailers inherently know reducing energy consumption reduces operational expenses and boosts the bottom line. Few, though, have a clear picture of the industry’s energy profile and the magnitude of savings to be realized by strategic energy upgrades. Without taking on the additional role of energy manager, this information isn’t readily transparent. Neither is knowing which upgrades make the most sense and how they justify the expense. Each dollar cut from the electric bill is equivalent to increasing sales by $18. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, [...]
Mapping shopper’s eye leads to 22% sales jump
By Jack Sjogren Hillphoenix Design Center Specialist Here’s a great story about the power of lighting and proper merchandising. Driscoll’s, one of the world’s largest distributors of fresh berries, wanted to amp up sales from its “Berry Patch” displays, which it creates for select partner retailers. Each Berry Patch features strawberries, raspberries, blueberries and blackberries merchandised in a refrigerated display case designed to maximize berry freshness and longevity. The berries were selling well, but Chuck Sweeney, Driscoll’s Director of Category Development, thought they could be moving out the door even faster. At an industry trade show, he saw a demonstration [...]
Retailers and industry experts gather for Hillphoenix’s Supermarket Sense
By Henry Pellerin Hillphoenix Vice President of Marketing As traditional food-selling lines crisscross and blur — think grocerant — retailers increasingly seek insights from vendors with a view across multiple environments. At Hillphoenix, we have that broad view because our people are on the ground in traditional supermarkets, convenience stores and meal-oriented small-format operations. We transform what we learn in the field into institutional expertise and strategic intelligence for customers. Our people have deep knowledge about merchandising, store design, lighting, food safety, meal programs, shopper engagement and more. You can meet some of our experts at the upcoming Supermarket Sense, [...]
Show-and-sell strategy leads to hot foods program success
By Kim Camp, Learning Center Programs Manager and Justin Webster, Hillphoenix Design Center Specialist Grocery shoppers love the convenience and variety of ready-to-eat meals. In response, about 75% of food retailers plan to set up self-service bars by early next year, according to a Supermarket News survey published in April. But hot food program newbies have a few things to learn — like the fact that a high-quality hot foods program involves both art and science. Displays must be attractive. Food should look moist and freshly prepared, and also be safe and healthy. At our upcoming Supermarket Sense conference, Sept. [...]
Restaurant trends create opportunities for supermarkets
By Mark DiDomenico Datassential, Inc. Today’s consumer is much more engaged with the foods and beverages they consume. Subsequently, they are driving faster adoption of trends. Nowhere is this more evident than in the restaurant channel, where operators are challenged with developing new and enticing menu options for their patrons’ ever evolving tastes. Those trends are also providing great challenges and opportunities for supermarkets, which are increasingly competing with restaurants. Datassential recently published an in-depth analysis of how supermarkets can grow their prepared food departments and become popular and profitable food service destinations in their own right. Here are some [...]
The right lights turn closed cases into ‘food galleries’
By Jack Sjogren Hillphoenix Design Center Specialist Using proper lighting inside and around closed-door refrigerated cases turns glass-fronted coolers into gallery-worthy display spaces. That increases the value of your investment in high-visibility cases, such as the Clarity line from Hillphoenix. And it ensures your closed cases not only offer energy savings and product longevity, but also show merchandise at its best. Here are a few tips for putting merchandise behind doors in the best light: Use warm-colored LED lights in cool spaces. Avoid white and blue-tinged light inside refrigerated cases. Instead, use blubs on the “warm” red-to-yellow color spectrum to [...]
Clarity line adapts to supermarket sizes and styles
By Kelly Sayko Hillphoenix Case Division Product Manager One-size-fits-all refrigeration equipment won’t work in today’s supermarkets, which come in all shapes and styles. What’s more, the growing popularity of store-within-a-store destination areas means a one-size refrigeration strategy may not even work across a single store. These days, grocers need refrigeration equipment that’s flexible, and Hillphoenix’s Clarity line was designed with adaptability in mind. The Clarity V Series Door Case is a great example. Not only do V Series refrigerated cases offer customizable door, frame and handle designs to suit any décor, they also come in standard and narrow sizes to [...]
Discover ways to light up meat sales
By Jack Sjogren Hillphoenix Design Center Specialist The right lights produce results. Just ask the owners of this supermarket in Crestline, California, a summer tourist area. Our Hillphoenix team helped them rethink lighting in the store’s meat department, and over three months departmental sales jumped 15% compared to the same three months the year before. (That sales boost came after peak tourist season, I might add.) We made simple changes with big visual impact that captured customers’ attention. The first step was shutting off existing in-case lighting — T8 fluorescents — that drained color from the meat and created an [...]
Your customers should understand sustainable refrigeration just enough to care
By Keilly Witman KW Refrigerant Management Strategy LLC The difference between mediocre communication and compelling communication lies in your message’s credibility, appeal, relevance, and distinctiveness. However, just like in refrigeration, when you fail to look at the whole picture, you wind up changing certain elements only to bring others out of whack. You lower your head pressure to save energy, but in doing so you lose heat reclaim capacity, which uses more energy, which brings you right back to square one. Similarly, in communication, overdoing it on one element, like distinctiveness, makes it harder to achieve another element, like credibility. [...]