Gourmet urban challenge
Leading US grocery retailer Supervalu is challenging Tesco's Fresh & Easy chain with a new convenience format, Urban Fresh, by Jewel.
The first store was opened by Supervalu company Jewel-Osco in Chicago in September.
It occupies 16,000sq ft in the city's Lincoln Park community. According to Jewel-Osco, it is designed as a speciality grocery store catering to the unique shopping needs of busy, on-the-go professsionals and time-sensitive commuters.
Deli counters at Urban Fresh
A key feature of the store's offer is ready-to-go meal solutions including gourmet sandwiches and dinner entrees. Urban Fresh also sells fresh meat and produce, seafood and organic ranges.
Wow factor in store
"The smaller format is an exciting complement to our larger, more traditional grocery stores," said Keith Nielsen, president of Jewel-Osco. "We hope to learn as much as possible from the effort, paying close attention to customer feedback, so we can deliver the best experience for our shoppers."
The Urban Fresh launch follows news Tesco is planning to open an office in Chicago as it looks to expand its Fresh & Easy convenience store chain into the city.
According to The Independent newspaper in the UK, Tesco has lined up Matthew Price, a real estate director at Fresh & Easy, to lead its property on team in Chicago.
Dunnhumby, which operates Tesco's Clubcard, also has an office in Chicago, but it is unclear when Fresh & Easy will open there. A Tesco spokesman said: "At the moment, our focus is very much on the west coast and opening stores there."
Brian McGurk, partner at Dublin-based brand consultants Bradley McGurk, visited the Urban Fresh, by Jewel store on the Insight/NACS store tours last month (October). McGurk was initially impressed.
"On entering the store, the abundance of fresh product and the range of food were apparent," he said, "but the wow factor came at the front of the shop but this receded noticeably as you moved towards the back of the aisles."
McGurk described the health and beauty department as "ordinary" and said certain display stands lacked care and attention.
Like Tesco Fresh & Easy, Urban Fresh focuses on self-checkout with six of these convenient registers plus four regular checkouts. Other key features include:
- An Urban Fresh Grill featuring an in-store chef preparing daily specialities
- Full service deli
- International cheese selections
- Hot soup bar
- Gourmet olive bar
- Gourmet whole-bean coffee selection
- Gourmet dessert, chocolates and pastries
- European-style bread and speciality desserts, sourced locally
- Daily offering of fresh flower bouquets
- Fresh produce including organic selections
- Grocery, dairy and frozen products
- Premium wine, beer and spirits
- 46 parking spaces