How to address retail's current challenges through adaptable store concepts

Food retailers around the globe are facing important challenges right now, labor shortage?and costs as well as rising energy costs. As a design and shopfitting company we keep developing strategies to help retailers tackle these challenges.?

Bridge, Zürich, Switzerland (opened in April 2021)

Bridge is an all-in-one fresh food market, catering and event location we designed and built for Migros at the heart of Zürich, near the main train station. It offers a one-off experience which creates a halo effect on the whole business of Switzerland biggest retail company.

Bridge has been thought and conceived as a test store for Migros where different formats, fixtures and innovative retail solutions can be experimented, and if successful, be implemented in other locations. It is another perfect example of how major retailers can try unique, highly experimental formats that can be a beacon for the brand.?

This shows the mindset of the company which is open to innovation and experimentation which accounts for a high level of flexibility. Flexibility is at the order of day also when it comes to the store concept itself. For a maximum amount of physical flexibility, Interstore | Schweitzer has invented the Flexstore? principle which allows retailers to adapt their store layout quickly, efficiently and in a cost-effective manner.

Sobeys Inc., Orangeville, Canada (opened in November 2021)

The same mindset has been adopted by the Canada’s second largest retail group Sobeys, whose Orangeville food market has been based on the Flexstore? principle, being the first in North America to implement it.

With fixtures and especially refrigerated counters being modular, thanks to an elaborate plug-and-play system where all the building services (water, electricity, vacuum, data etc.) are fed from the ceiling, retailers gain a maximum of flexibility. This allows them to quickly react to changing consumer needs and add or take away counters and refrigerated units, something that would be more difficult with a refrigeration plant.?

Tackling current challenges?

Due to the high labor costs and customers increasingly seeking convenient solutions served counters become ever less relevant. These are challenges retailers need to find new ways of dealing with. We as Interstore | Schweitzer have the finger on the pulse and are constantly working on innovative and cost-efficient solutions, thinking about “new ways in fresh”.

Thanks to our in-house production of refrigerated counters, apart from designing and shopfitting, we are also able to provide custom-made refrigeration solutions. Switching from served to self-service counters becomes quick and easy and allows the retailers to quickly adapt to changing situations.

We believe that, if needed, experiential self-service departments help retain the feeling of a department without the requirement of staff being present. It’s important to maintain the feeling of a staffed department by finding a way to communicate over the product and/or the fixture.?