Waitrose has opened the first of a new store concept it has dubbed the ‘Home of Food Lovers’.
The concept was officially debuted at its revamped supermarket in Newbury in Berkshire last month. The Grocer went along on opening day to sample Waitrose’s latest retail vision.
It is safe to say that Waitrose is not holding back: it appears the retailer has thrown everything it can at this concept. This becomes clear well before shoppers enter the store – the ‘Home of Food Lovers’ message is everywhere, daubed boldly on the sides of the trolley sheds in the car park and overhead as shoppers enter the store.
Passing through the entrance, the first thing shoppers will see is the new ‘Food Lovers Hub’. Here Waitrose has replaced the shelves of recipe cards that shoppers will have frequently taken home and filed in a kitchen drawer for months on end. The new hub looks to offer seasonal recipe inspiration. As well as the recipe cards, the fixture hosts all the necessary ingredients and wine pairings.
Once past the hub, shoppers come to an upgraded fruit & vegetable department. Waitrose says the key thinking here is that it wants to “champion sustainability, with its strongest-ever focus on organic, Fairtrade, and regeneratively farmed produce”. There is clear communication to this effect for shoppers, with messages such as “Squeeze the fruit, not the farmers – that’s our belief. It’s why we always pay our farmers fairly.” Another nice touch is the illuminated overhead “Weigh me” arrows directing customers to the scales for their loose produce.
Immediately behind the fruit & vegetables section are the serve over counters. An impressive run along the rear starts with a large dry-aged beef cabinet next to the butcher counter. Here, shoppers can see a handy chart on the wall explaining how best to cook the different cuts of beef. Also, as part of this counter and the neighbouring fishmongers, Waitrose has launched a new ‘Meal Maker’ service, where partners prepare cuts with free rubs and marinades.
Next in line are the sushi area and a new delicatessen counter, which offers a personalised grazing box service. The row of counters which has the feel of a posh ‘Market Street’ is rounded off by an expanded in-store bakery featuring an exclusive new partnership with premium brand Ole & Steen, which will be rolled out to 35 stores. The bakery itself is decorated with the words ‘crusty, crumbly, flaky’ writ large on the wall behind the bakers. There is also a handy ‘Now baking’ sign that is illuminated while the key baking runs are in progress.
Another innovation in the bakery section is the addition of a freezer for the ready to bake range as Waitrose looks to make the shopping trip more logical. Frozen petfood, another fast-growing category, has also been installed alongside the ambient options in the petcare aisle.
Just in front of the counters is what could be the store’s signature feature: a five-metre-long cheese island. The fixture houses a curated selection of nearly 100 speciality cheeses, with partners on hand in the area to provide expert advice. It does seem to be attracting plenty of attention from shoppers, even those not seemingly attracted by the free samples.
The store overall feels modern but has plenty of the foodie touches that traditional Waitrose shoppers will feel comfortable with. A wall of rosé that marks boundary of the beers, wines and spirits section will certainly make many Waitrose lovers feel right at home. For the more discerning customer, there is also a new Fine & Rare wine section to encourage trial of new options, while a nice and potentially important addition is a blast wine chiller that cools bottles to a suitable drinking temperature within three minutes.
There is a heavy focus on technology in the store, including electronic shelf-edge labels and shelf-edge cameras, which aim to help partners ensure strong availability, including in heavily shopped areas such as the Food Lovers’ Hub. Like many retailers, there is also a burgeoning deployment of retail media screens. However, instead of bombarding shoppers at the end of every aisle, which seems to be the norm in many stores, digital screens are mainly embedded within specific fixtures. These include for 10 new brand partnerships aimed at highlighting artisan producers such as Tap Social, Agua De Madre, and The Good Crisp Company.
Newbury definitely feels like a step up for Waitrose. It will be interesting to see how the Food Lovers offer and messaging can be flowed back into the rest of the estate and, more crucially, how traditional and potential new Waitrose customers respond.
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