Forward-thinking. Flexible. Technology. Not the typical lingo anticipated around design chatter, but today’s c-store design experts are more in tune with their clients’ overall game plan than ever before. Finessing the aesthetics and discussing a color palette comes afterward.
Consider it strategy-based design, said Mike Lawshe, president of Paragon Solutions, based in Fort Worth, Texas. When he’s approached with a plug-and-play idea someone suggests because they saw it at another store, his first question is, “Why do you want to put that in your store?” His least favorite answer is, “Because it works over there.”
“There needs to be a fundamental understanding around why you are doing something,” said Lawshe. “Sometimes it’s about expanding your own knowledge base and walking through what it means when you hear the phrase ‘form follows function.’ Bringing in textures, materials and graphics all comes into play after the functional side.”
So, what are the critical components around the functional side of things today in the c-store segment? No single answer covers it all, Lawshe admits. “You have to strip it down to the core customer experience.” The pandemic has altered that customer experience. From a broad viewpoint, he pointed to an increase in touchscreen/frictionless shopping experiences, greater allocation of space between areas throughout stores and a rethinking of customer flow and queuing, both at the checkout and in any foodservice component. Much of this was already in play pre-pandemic, but he believes the pandemic accelerated each of those areas.
There is seemingly a little less concern over alienating ‘Bubba’ by making the store nicer.
A c-store evolution toward a more upscale approach also continues, said Christopher Studach, creative director at King Retail Solutions in Eugene, Oregon. That includes a greater focus on female shoppers, unique foodservice and beverage lineups and Wi-Fi in stores. Again, not necessarily entirely new avenues but accelerated ones. What’s new, he said, is seemingly a little less concern over alienating “Bubba” by making the store nicer. Essentially, the broader base of c-store operators is now elevating stores, rather than mainly the larger chains, and that pushes the entire industry forward as a result. “That longstanding fear of alienating Bubba by elevating store design … the industry seems to be getting over that,” he said.
Design today challenges the standard c-store on many levels, said Studach. He noted that his recent projects take an elevated approach to retail. “One of the trends we are finding is that customers that may have utilized a franchised brand prior are now looking to create their own unique brand and are designing the store around that idea,” he said.
For Pennsylvania-based Coen Markets, which remains in a process of reimaging/rebranding/redesigning efforts to unify the 57-store chain with one image and one voice, connecting with customers on multiple levels is critical, from what the store sells to how it looks. The true test of success in terms of branding for Charlie McIlvaine, chairman and CEO of Coen Markets, is if customers connect that they are inside a Coen Market even if they entered blindfolded. “Would they know it’s our store? That occupied a lot of our thinking during the reimaging. With distinct architectural features, our signature orange band, our brand wall, our famous chicken signage, we want customers to recognize it as part of our identity.”
Even more important, the larger drive for design and layout considerations at Coen Markets centers around foodservice, said McIlvaine. “We have a complex, from-scratch kitchen, and that’s one of the first things we think about having to manage through with store design: the ergonomic flow from storage area to prep to cooking, etc., and then how we display the food,” he said. “The visibility with food is hugely important, particularly as guests ‘eat with their eyes.’”
Touchscreen ordering systems and where to place those also influenced store design, McIlvaine added. “A lot of times, in a remodel scenario, we are constrained by existing infrastructure, unlike new-builds which is more of a white sheet of paper. We call our remodels ‘snowflakes’—each store can be different. Therefore, we need to design with adaptability while keeping visual architectural features and functionality relatively consistent.”
On the exterior, the chain opted to plumb for electric vehicles in its design but not put the stake in the ground quite yet on EV, said McIlvaine. “When we actually put in EV is a question. In our marketplace today, EV has fairly low penetration,” McIlvaine, said. “Until the technology advances and crosses that inflection point to include universal plugs and ultrafast charging times, I’m just not sure the profitability model is there. We created the opportunity for EV with the basic infrastructure and will be able to deploy at the right time when penetration and technology converge.” The chain is prepared to have select parking spaces to accommodate EVs when the revenue model makes sense.
Pickup Design
Since the pandemic, a new motivation has surfaced around technology and app usage, including picking up food at c-stores, said Joseph Bona, president of Bona Design Lab in New York. He encourages c-store retailers to embrace technology. “If you are going to do it,” he added, “do it right. It needs to be seamless and connected. When considering layout, it means specific places where employees can place food for pickup, he said, close to the operation.
While delivery and pickup components are not widespread across the c-store industry, designs do need to take into consideration how to serve the delivery set of business that exists today, said Michael Davis, vice president, member services, NACS. He’s traveled extensively with c-store delegations touring on the international front. C-store delivery models are common in China, Indonesia and Thailand and are growing in Japan, he said, but even neighborhood stores in the U.S. should be thinking about delivery. “If you are the neighborhood store, you should at least take into consideration now or in the future how to handle delivery services and pickup services,” he said, “both in the store and out in the parking lot.”
Consider on the global front that some c-stores routinely have customer orders fulfilled multiple times a day, Davis noted, citing Hong Kong as an example. One c-store in a high-rise office building there serves a delivery-oriented customer base with what the store calls room service.
“If you are a neighborhood store and people are still working from home, consider all the bells and whistles that people want,” Davis advised. “Design and merchandise around your location.”
Davis also added: “Watch where you came from and look around the corner to see what’s ahead. Borrow or steal with pride as the Brazilians say. That’s why people come to the NACS Show, to see what’s happening, what the future looks like. Design has to be flexible to serve today and tomorrow.”
Inspiration
Airports have caught the eye of Bona in terms of presenting an elevated level of mega-functional layout. “There’s a whole new level of retail happening there,” he noted. “Consider how [airport spaces] design for quick solutions and a limited time span. How do they set it up? Welcome you in? Merchandise product?”
Merchandising pods are a primary component of many airport retail offerings, what Bona refers to as four-way pods in the c-store industry versus long gondola-structured aisles. “We take inspiration from the pod approach,” he said. A simple example using the airport model is one pod encompassing all electronics, he explained, displaying items like earbuds and chargers that are commonly forgotten.
“The pod holds all like items and easily, visually telegraphs where things are,” Bona said. “It almost eliminates the need for signage because it’s instinctive.” Whether airports or Starbucks or any other merchandising-centric segment, “always look for inspiration,” he advised. “Look outside our industry for a sense of discovery and experience. Retail has to be a little fun and experiential. In order for your brand to stand out it has to mean something to people. Design plays a role in that.”
There is no lack of great retail design from which to draw inspiration, said Studach. King Retail Solutions drew from both historic soda fountains and new independent eateries for one recent project in Texas, which he described as a very different kind of c-store. “The large young professional/millennial demographic led us to create a very different c-store featuring a retro soda and ice-cream shop, a large selection of craft beer and cider, wine and cheese, as well as kombucha growlers to go, all wrapped in a very hip, fun package.”
At the moment, Studach said there appears to be a post-pandemic surge when it comes to new designs and concepts. A big solution to staying open during the pandemic was much more online ordering and engagement, which he noted does affect store design. “That is probably the biggest takeaway that looks to remain post-pandemic.”
Moving even more into the future, new directions “not only push us to new heights of design, but also our clients who may have not operated like this in the past,” Studach said. “In our opinion, the ‘blurring of c-store formats’ is a welcome trend. For too long c-stores have banked on simplicity almost solely, with minimal thought to offering the customers much more than speed. While that is still an important trait, the industry is looking for unique blends of products, services and, thankfully, customer experiences to create competitive differentials, attract and maintain new shoppers.” He added that featured focal points allow for “wow moments,” engaging and leading the shopper through the store. “Those defined spaces give the store the personality we are looking for rather than a homogenous ‘same old thing’ that traditionally defined convenience stores in general.”