New ‘intuitive’ supermarket opens

The US is now home to the first completely restructured grocery store model designed to fit the way people intuitively shop. Piggly Wiggly’s approach includes grouping fresh, frozen, and canned vegetables and fruit in the same location, as well as cereal and milk. Marco Retail Group worked with Piggly Wiggly to develop the store concept.

The new design also includes one-stop stations offering complete meal solutions with items such as ground beef, hamburger buns, chips, and beer grouped together for barbeques. Additional store features include signature prepared meals available for curb-side pickup, an on-site sommelier, more than 1,500 wine varieties, and a Dream Dinner franchise where as many as two months’ worth of oven-ready meals can be prepared. Nearly 1,600 natural or organic products will also be available.

David Schools, Piggly Wiggly CEO, commented: “When you enter the Piggly Wiggly at The Market Common, you don’t see check-out lines. You don’t go down five aisles to get ingredients for one meal. We’ve even added interior design elements, including wood flooring, soft lighting, and an open-floor plan to make it feel more like home.” (McCreary/Snow Architects oversaw construction and engineering of the store.)

While Piggly Wiggly claims this store represents a breakthrough approach, the idea of grouping food items based on how customers use them in meals has been explored in other grocery concepts by other operators, including Delhaize’s Food Lion, without overwhelming success.

The US-based grocery chain said it would consider rolling out the concept based on customer response to the prototype, located in Myrtle Beach, SC.