Beverage Dynamics is the largest national business magazine devoted exclusively to the needs of off-premise beverage alcohol retailers, from single liquor stores to big box chains, through coverage of the latest trends in wine, beer and spirits.
Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/658171
www.beveragedynamics.com March/April 2016• Beverage Dynamics 23 Every shelf, including the many gondolas arrayed through the store, were planned and built with LED lighting above the bottles. "I think we might be the only store in the US to do that," Gershman says, "It's quite innovative and also really expensive to do - to put them on every shelf in the store but as a result there are no dark shadows anywhere on the shelves and the bottles really pop." In designing the store and confronting the cost of the shelf lighting, Gershman bit the bullet. "I know that some stores have put LED shelf lighting to highlight the higher-end packaging. But what I didn't like about that, when we did a test highlighting a single area of the store, was that it diminished the rest of the store. It's a much cleaner look when you highlight ev- erything, otherwise some parts of the store would look pretty dull by comparison. That's how effective these lights are." While the shelf lighting has had the most dramatic impact, similar to what can be seen in duty-free shops, the entire store has LED overhead dome lighting that gives a bright glow to the shopping fl oor. Gershman and company have been so pleased with the look they converted all the other stores to the same type of lights and fi xtures earlier this year. "We wanted the "wow" factor, and one of the things we do in all our designs is to create a pause space, an open space in the front where you can see the whole store, see exactly where you are and where you need to go, and are not immediately bom- barded by displays," Gershman says. A MODEL LOCATION He expects the new store not only to serve the area but also be a destination shop, even for folks who might normally shop at another of his Fargo stores. "Our parking lot here is immense and very easy to get in and out of," he says. "We're noticing that our customer averages at the new store are very robust and the number of premium items we sell are as well. That's what we were hoping for and it's turning into a reality." Happy Harry's stores are also known for wide aisles, low shelving and wide open spaces - a suitable design touch for the northern plains. "We have every aisle at least fi ve feet wide so there's no butt-brushing," he says. "We keep the shelving profi le low be- cause I believe as people get older (and we have an older demo- graphic here), they start to lose their peripheral vision and people don't like to feel like they are in canyons and confi ned to small spaces. That's true of all shoppers, really." It also helps both older customers and those either short or not especially nimble, to be able to reach any item without assistance. "A trend in our industry has been to put as many things in the store as possible and go really tall with shelving," Mitzel says. "As long as we can, we're going to keep our profi le low so that people can see the whole store and feel connected to all that's in it. We fi nd that feel lends to a more relaxed shopping experience for our customers and they linger longer." The new store shares employees to some extent with the closest Fargo store, but there are at any one time 30 or so main- taining the 7500 beverage alcohol SKUs and another 1500 or so bar supplies, food and tobacco. Happy Harry's employs about 110 among all stores. EVERY SHELF, INCLUDING THE MANY GONDOLAS ARRAYED THROUGH THE STORE, WERE PLANNED AND BUILT WITH LED LIGHTING ABOVE THE BOTTLES. "The thing is this - change is going to visit you, whether you like it or not. The key was, this is a way for me to manage change rather than wait for something drastic to happen. I was able to put my hands on the steering wheel and manage the change that I wanted." — Hal Gershman