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 Feature Story
the
store
within the store
by Cynthia L. McGowan
Floral department more than holds its own in Stop & Shop’s
new-concept location in Boston.
A visit to a Stop & Shop Supermarket Company new-concept store
in a bustling Boston shopping center revealed a busy, vibrant
store full of customers who had a wide range of products to
choose from in a well-designed, upscale setting. And floral,
with its emphasis on fresh, well-merchandised products and
excellent customer service, is an important part of the store’s
success.
The new store, a Super Stop & Shop, opened just before Christmas
in the Dorchester area of Boston, just off Interstate 93. It
replaced a store in the same shopping center that the company
had outgrown.
“We just needed more space, and we weren’t able to get that in
the existing location,” says Peter Poutre, senior director of
floral merchandising and procurement for both the 377-store Stop
& Shop chain and the 188-store Giant Food-Landover. Stop & Shop
operates stores in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire,
New Jersey, New York and Rhode Island. Giant Food operates
stores in Maryland; Delaware; Washington, D.C.; and Virginia.
emphasis on fresh
Stop & Shop needed the space for its “store-within-a-store”
concept that the Boston location showcases. At least one-third
of the store is devoted to the “power aisle,” which has both
Dunkin’ Donuts and Boston Market. The power aisle, at one of the
store’s two entrances, has a European market feel and boasts a
huge produce selection, with fruits and vegetables attractively
displayed on wooden merchandisers; a sushi bar; a “quick
cuisine” cold buffet area; an olive bar with at least a dozen
varieties; salads and fruit bowls to “grab and go”; a bakery; a
deli; and a cheese island with its own employee. “Everything
we’re doing comes from a fresh perspective,” Mr. Poutre remarks.
 The
power aisle also has stone tile flooring and subdued lighting.
Each section of the store has its own look and floor style as
part of the “store-within-a-store” concept, but the store’s
décor ties together with a pleasing palette of muted golds and
maroons.
On the other side of the store is a huge health-and-beauty
section that is set up like a drugstore. Near it is a “Dollar
Zone,” a nook in a corner for bargain hunters. In the center of
the store is the “Best Sellers” movie section, which has bright
signage promoting the latest DVDs and looks like a retail video
store.
The store’s central Boston location draws a diverse clientele,
Mr. Poutre says. “We get customers ranging from college students
to the elderly and everything in between, and dozens and dozens
of nationalities and ethnicities. So we’re really trying to
cater to everyone here.”
The approach appears to be working. During a recent visit by
Super Floral Retailing, the store was alive with customers who
were browsing the wide aisles or dining and chatting in the
store’s cafe.
the florist shop
They also were visiting the 1,300-square-foot, full-service
floral department, which is located at the store’s other
entrance near the high-traffic movie section and pharmacy. It,
too, embodies the “store-within-a-store” concept. On the wall
over the counter, a large overhang decorated with attractive
photographs of flowers proclaims “Festive & Fragrant Floral.”
Combined with stylish dark tile on the floor; professional,
attractive signage; and abundant, well-merchandised fresh
products, the overall effect is one of a stand-alone florist
shop.
In fact, that is how the company has branded the department. “We
call it the Florist Shop so it stands alone as a store within a
store,” Mr. Poutre says. “However, most of our customers know us
as the Stop and Shop or Giant Florist. These are strong brands
in our market area.”
Inside the department, customers are treated to a tantalizing
selection of irresistible fresh florals. A large merchandiser
that spans one side of the floral counter holds bouquets ranging
from the “New Dawn Bouquet,” with Gerberas, roses, Eucalyptus
and daisy mums for $24.99, to a “Thinking of You Bouquet,” with
one Gerbera, spray mums and carnations for $6.99.
Round merchandisers are filled with a wide variety of potted
flowering plants and cut flowers in bright, spring colors.
Luscious-looking potted Hydrangeas in hues of bright pink, light
green and lavender, with signage advising consumers to “brighten
your day,” sell for $19.99. Buckets of gorgeous callas and
Hydrangeas at $4.99 a stem each and pretty Irises at three for
$5 are customer magnets.
Roses are available by the stems, in bunches and bouquets, and
in arrangements. “You’ll always see a lot of roses in our
stores,” Mr. Poutre says. “If there’s a signature item, it’s
that.”
Stop & Shop offers premium “Majestic”-branded 70-cm roses. “You
don’t see a lot of 70-cm roses in supermarkets today,” Mr.
Poutre points out. The Majestic roses sell for $24.99 a dozen. A
50-cm dozen rose bunch goes for $14.99, and 10 stems of 40-cm
roses sell for $7.99.
 focus
on quality
The company has put its emphasis on cut flowers, and they are
the floral operation’s top seller. “Cut flowers are really where
we distinguish ourselves,” Mr. Poutre says. “We’re spending a
lot of resources developing cut flowers and roses because we
don’t want to make it a commodity business. Our focus is best in
class. Not just in what we do operationally but the product that
we have in our stores.”
That focus on quality appeared to get a good reception from
shoppers during Super Floral Retailing’s Boston visit. The
department was busy with shoppers picking up flowers and plants,
and perusing the selections. Customers took their purchases
either to the floral counter to pay or to the main registers—one
young woman was seen doing the rest of her shopping with a
Hydrangea plant peeping out of her cart.
Ken McAllister, the store’s floral manager, says he displays
flowers by color to get the biggest impact and draw customers’
attention. He strategically places items where they will get
noticed the most, such as his gift-items display of upgraded
flowering plants and fresh-cut arrangements. He places the table
in a prominent position at a front corner of the department
where it is sure to catch the eyes of customers who are running
in to get last-minute gifts.
“In this particular store, people are used to coming right in
and getting something,” he says. “They’re going somewhere, and
they want it then.”
Graduations, from preschool to college, are a huge business for
him, and he knows to be prepared. “A crowd will come in an hour
before the graduation, and they’ll want the flowers, the ribbon,
the balloons and so forth,” Mr. McAllister says. He gets the
dates of area graduations and proms ahead of time, often from
teens who work in the store, so he can get ready for the influx
of orders.
customer care
The Boston Florist Shop is an “extremely high volume” floral
department, Mr. Poutre says, although he declines to share
numbers. He will say that the floral operation’s contribution to
total store sales corporatewide is above the industry average,
increasing at peak times such as Valentine’s Day and Mother’s
Day, the top two floral holidays.
Floral is considered a signature department at Stop & Shop, and
the company markets itself on the high-quality service it offers
its floral customers. “We think our prices are extremely
competitive for the quality and variety that we offer, but we’re
focusing and marketing on our differences—our people and the
great things that they do, and taking care of our customers,”
Mr. Poutre says. “And that’s very marketable, and not easy to
duplicate.”
Mr. Poutre sees the value in the relationships that customers
and floral managers build over time, citing an example he saw
when he recently attended the opening of a Connecticut store.
Customers were complimenting the floral manager on the new
store, and they knew one another’s names. “That’s always what I
preach to the senior executives in our company,” he says, “that
you never want to move a florist manager if you don’t have to.
“Our folks touch people at the most intimate times in their
lives, both good and bad,” he continues, “and they develop that
type of relationship, and it’s lasting. Of course, most of these
occasions involve food as well, so it’s great for our total
business.”
Mr. McAllister embodies those sentiments. Like the rest of the
floral operation, he has many repeat customers, shoppers who
come in weekly for flowers for home décor, for their churches
and for gift giving, and he has developed a rapport with them.
“They know all about my family, my kids,” he says with a laugh.
sharing ideas
To help develop those excellent customer service skills as well
as flower care and design, the company offers corporate support
and training. At the corporate level, for both Stop & Shop and
Giant Food, each of the five divisions has a dedicated sales
team whose “responsibility is training, staffing and making sure
that the programs we’re putting in place are being executed
properly at store level,” Mr. Poutre says. “This is a
high-talent, passionate group.”
In addition, some of the chain’s growers and local wholesalers
assist with training throughout the year. “They love supporting
us in that because it just means better
business overall for the industry,” he notes.
At holiday meetings and training sessions, all of the store
designers will bring arrangements they designed to share with
the others. They discuss the designs and how they made them as
well as customer reactions. “It’s always continual learning
and sharing of ideas,” Mr. Poutre says, “and you’ll see some
very creative things.”
the supply chain
The company gets most of its cut flowers direct from South
American and Dutch growers, using wholesalers for special or
emergency orders. Plants come from growers in California,
Florida and Canada as well as many local growers.
 All
of Stop & Shop and Giant Food’s cut flowers initially go to the
same distribution center, in Carlisle, Pa. “The benefit is that
you have all stores pulling from one facility, so procurement
and inventory management is easier,” Mr. Poutre says.
From the Carlisle center, flowers slated for Stop & Shop go to
one of three distribution centers, and from there, they go to
the stores. Mr. Poutre says the company has made improvements to
the supply chain in the past year. “That’s something we’re
working very diligently on now, from the farm level, to make
sure that our cold-chain management is the best in class,” he
says.
All of the floral products are date-coded to ensure freshness.
Store employees “know when the product’s coming, and they know
what the shelf life is, but they’re constantly looking at the
product,” Mr. Poutre says. “It’s our [corporate staff]
obligation to make sure that they get the freshest product at
store level so they can satisfy the customers’ needs.”
The corporate staff procures the products, and floral managers
order from that supply to ensure they have the right products
and supply to meet their customers’ needs. Stop & Stop also
sends out a daily note via intranet to the floral managers on
market conditions, availability or any retail changes—“just
everyday maintenance,” Mr. Poutre says.
In addition to that daily communication, the floral operation
sends weekly merchandising bulletins that tell the focal items
and give planograms. “There is still some flexibility because so
many of our formats are different,” Mr. Poutre says. “It’s hard
to just say, ‘This is where everything goes.’”
spurring impulse sales
A merchandising effort that Stop & Shop has had tremendous
success with is its use of supplemental displays for cut
flowers. On Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays—and every day for the
high-volume stores—the floral departments display the “hot” cut
flowers that week, such as tulips and daffodils, in mobile
merchandisers in the departments and at store entrances.
“These displays give us tremendous incremental volume of up to a
20 percent increase in sales,” Mr. Poutre says. “Who can resist
fresh cut tulips or a vibrant bouquet?” The supplemental item at
the Boston store during Super Floral Retailing’s visit was tulip
bunches for $6.99, displayed at the edge of the department right
as customers entered the store—where they couldn’t miss them.
The departments also set up arrangement tables at the front of
the stores, usually on weekends, to highlight the custom design
work they do. The tables showcase designs with different price
points, textures and styles. “That makes a statement to the
customer that these are the things that we can offer you, and we
can custom design them for you,” Mr. Poutre says. Shoppers can
have arrangements made while they shop. That happens “all the
time,” Mr. Poutre says. “We don’t refuse an order.”
Mr. McAllister, of the Boston store, says arrangements are big
sellers at his store. The average price point ranges from $30 to
$40. His cooler is full of arrangements for all occasions,
including gift giving and home décor.
delivering success
Signage throughout the department advises customers that the
floral department delivers, an initiative that started in
November in the Massachusetts stores. The company has a
“hub-and-spoke” delivery model, with six stores that service
most of the state of Massachusetts. “Instead of having every
store with a dedicated van and driver, we’re able to keep it
regional so that the fulfillment happens out of one central
area,” Mr. Poutre says.
The addition of delivery has been a “tremendous success,” he
says, and it has allowed the company to get more funeral
business, an area that is growing for the company. It also
complements its wedding business, which already is highly
successful. Mr. Poutre estimates Stop & Shop provides flowers
for 8,000 to 10,000 weddings a year.
 Mr.
McAllister says, “I do a lot of weddings, some of them last
minute. I had one last week who wanted them for the next day!”
He helped the couple and saved the day. From April to October,
his store sometimes handles three weddings a week, with a staff
of two full-timers and two part-timers (like other Stop & Shops,
he can pull from cross-trained staffers in other departments
during busy times).
meeting needs
Stop & Shop prides itself on the kind of service that Mr.
McAllister offered the last-minute wedding couple. The company
takes steps to make sure it is always meeting customers’ needs
by talking with shoppers, having corporate staff in the stores
and getting feedback through more formal research.
“Our market research department does a lot of consumer diary
panel research and blind panel research, and we’re always
looking” at the results, Mr. Poutre says. In fact, the senior
management of the company recently spent an entire day looking
at the data for 2005. “It’s something we take very seriously,”
he says, “because our customers are the boss.”
You can reach Cynthia L. McGowan at
cmcgowan@superfloralretailing.com or by phone at (800)
355-8086.
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