CLICK TO VIEW
CS NEWS ARTICLE

September 17, 2007 - From new builds to low-budget remodels, the winners of Convenience Store News' second annual Store Design Contest provide ample "wow" factor. This year, a common theme was upgrading the customer experience and emphasizing fresh-food offerings.

This category -- Best Original Store Design (new construction) -- was the most hotly contested in this year's awards program. We received dozens of examples of innovative and effective new prototypes and remodels, from a cool-looking drive-thru mini-mart (Fresh Lane, a privately held, family-owned regional grocery store chain in Texas) to an urban, fresh-food concept featuring high-end bathrooms and flat-screen TVs in the heart of Brooklyn. (Bolla Market, the first of its kind in a 40-store network of ExxonMobil and BP franchises operated by Bolla Management Group).

But the winner in this category really knocked out our judges. WOW!, a metro-Detroit convenience store and gas station owned by Atlas Oil Co., based in Taylor, Mich., offers shoppers a unique and memorable experience. According to Nadine McLearon, creative and marketing director for D-Fab Design, the objective of the new prototype was to communicate that WOW! is a "fresh" and reliable retailer among the competition by providing special customer amenities that make small life choices simple and fun. Atlas also wanted to develop brand awareness of E85 fuel and offer a convenient location for its alternative fuel customers.

Our judges were impressed with the custom "sunflower" icon at the Fraser, Mich., store and we liked the "We Offer Wonderful" tagline, which is used prominently on the building facade, pumps and gas canopy. The brand image is then carried throughout the interior in a fun way. For example, "sun" icons float in a ceiling cloud above prepared foods. Contemporary, custom-illustrated line art printed on wall covering adds interest to walls and cooler panels. A warm color palette infuses the interior with fiery energy, including sun-baked hues of red, yellow and orange, with accents of sage green and sky blue

Flooring patterns in rich hues of textured porcelain tiles emphasize fresh foods, coffee and fountain drink stations. Brushed, metallic-finished, curved CoreLite baffles surround checkout areas and the fountain wall. Zig-zag babble graphics above the cooler and freezer wall create 3-D imagery with unique messages from opposite entrance points.

Some other highlights of the winning design:

• The WOW! store is part of a larger development, including gas, diesel and E85 fuel, as well as a separate building with Starbucks and a restaurant.
• Two separate entrances into the building serve gas customers and diesel customers.
• A recessed fountain drink center provides a clean, attractive presentation.
• A bright red ceiling adds energy and fun to the interior. The zig-zag cooler wall application creates a trick-of-the-eye with different messages reading from either side. Small category signage over the cooler doors help identify product within.
• The brand image is reiterated, right down to the restroom signage with playful graphics and paint-stenciled logos on the wall in a random pattern.
• A curved checkout counter helps ease traffic flow and mimics curvilinear shapes throughout the space, and decorative lighting and a hanging baffle delineate the checkout area. Free food samples are added as a friendly, tempting offering near the checkouts.