Marco Retail Goes End-to-End with Busch’s
Media Contacts:
Constance Crump
Marketing Director
Marco Retail Group
734.665.2985
concrump@marcoretailgroup.com
Graham & Associates
Dan Marengo
415.986.7212
dmarengo@Graham-Associates.com
For Immediate Release
Marco Retail Group Goes End-to-End with Busch’s
ANN ARBOR, Mich., July 12, 2006 – Marco Retail’s execution on the new Busch’s store in Rochester Hills, Mich. showcases the international design firm’s integrated, innovative, end-to-end approach that starts with strategy and extends all the way through design, implementation and construction.
Unveiled at a May 2006 grand opening, Busch’s Rochester Hills store is a significant achievement in visual brand translation, design and execution.
The store is the 12th retail location for the Michigan-based Busch’s chain. Measuring 46,500 square feet, it anchors the newly-remodeled University Square Shopping Center in an upscale suburb north of Detroit.
“This is our first store design that fully incorporates our new branding efforts,” said John Busch, president of Busch’s, Inc. “Marco Retail’s overall execution was creatively done and absolutely true to the brand representation.
“We’re receiving very positive comments from our customers and the store is performing to our expectations, which are quite high,” he added.
The Approach
Marco Retail is a firm known for strong strategic orientation, pragmatic implementation, and intensive client service that extends through competitive bid solicitation, material procurement and build-out.
It’s one of the few retail design firms truly capable of integrating business and brand strategy, architecture and planning, and retail design. The firm values creative collaboration with its clients, not unlike the European artist/patron model, as it explores and rolls out a retail vision that connects the brand with employees, products and shoppers.
For Busch’s, that translated to carrying a new brand strategy from logo to visual interpretation of the brand in signing, packaging, advertising and promotion, and extending that three-dimensionally to the store environment and customer experience. The result is an entirely new store design for the expanding chain, one that will serve as the template for future Busch’s stores (the next store opening is slated for September 2006).
The Challenge
Prior to Busch’s arrival, the shopping center’s status was as an underperforming commercial property anchored by a supermarket chain tenant. Adding to the competitive challenge was a new lifestyle, “streetscape” center across the street with an attractive mix of high-profile national and local retail outlets including J. Crew, Banana Republic, Pottery Barn and Hollister.
Marco Retail’s assignment encompassed the entire 65,200 square-foot University Square shopping center. It “re-skinned” the underperforming center with exterior design elements that established a completely new look and feel for the University Square center while creating the opportunity for sufficient design latitude so anchor tenants like Busch’s and Trader Joe’s could present their own brands and identities.
“For Busch’s customers, the goal was to design an enjoyable, dynamic and magnetic shopping experience that creates a ‘Wow, I love this store’ effect,” said Nick Giammarco, principal and director of retail design for Marco Retail. “We applied set design principles from performing arts to help meet those goals, while also delivering a high level of economic value to our client.”
The Result: Busch’s Rochester Hills
Leveraging the resources of a 12-member, cross-disciplinary design team, Marco Retail converted Busch’s long term brand goals into a visual language and then translated that language into a tangible store design. The entire process covered approximately 24 months, a span guided by Busch’s timeline for new store rollout.
The finished product stands as an example of the “next generation” of supermarket retailing. Busch’s Rochester Hills offers a customer-driven retail experience that connects on multiple levels. “The supermarket industry is in the midst of a renaissance, with progressively-minded, privately-held regional chains like Busch’s taking leading roles,” said Mr. Giammarco.
On approach, the store’s signature design element is a soaring, pyramid-shaped glass and steel atrium entrance. By day the iconic structure invites natural light and creates an airy ambiance for the storefront; by night, it glows with incandescent lighting to serve as a magnetic beacon for travelers in the area. Busch’s stylized pineapple logo covers the floor below the atrium, offering customers a bold and branded welcome.
Design elements incorporated by Marco Retail for Busch’s include:
• Vibrant visual expressions of Busch’s calendar-themed branding
• Elevated and exposed ceilings
• Theatrical product lighting
• End caps framed by furniture-quality millwork
• Backlit acrylic paneling
• A curving, 90-ft. long translucent ceiling element that brings together the produce and dairy sections
• An extended wine and beverage center
• Patterned floor design to link store design elements, aid navigation and enhance experience
The cumulative and contextual effect of the elements above is a rich, romantic and inviting environment. Pragmatic use of space and materials means that Busch’s management can expect the store to perform with extreme durability and withstand the hard use typical of high-traffic supermarkets. Form and function work together to help Busch’s Rochester Hills thrive in a competitive retail environment.
About Marco Retail
Marco Retail Group is an international retail strategy, planning and design studio. Headquartered near Ann Arbor, Michigan, Marco Retail serves innovation-minded retailers who seek to fully leverage the potential of design in shopping environments and customer experiences that deliver improved customer captivity, operating results and brand value. Cubellis Marco Retail has gained industry recognition for clients such as Busch’s, the Detroit Tigers, Piggly Wiggly, Sentry Foods, Whole Foods, BD’s Mongolian BBQ, VG’s and more.
The Marco Retail philosophy posits that the most successful retail environments are those that enrich the spirit and feed the soul of the shopper. For more information, visit www.marcoretailgroup.com or email Barry Seifer, Principal, bseifer@marcoretailgroup.com.
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