The Beautiful Convenience
David Jones Food. New store visit by Shop!
With its casual yet glamorous feel, the new David Jones standalone gourmet grocery market looks sure to sway local grocery shopping connoisseurs.
Written by Zita Watkin, Shop! ANZ
Last week we visited the new David Jones standalone food store in South Yarra, Melbourne.
David Jones have curated a store with DJ’s private label items complimented by a thoughtful selection of partner brand products.
The 425sqm store, located on the ground level of Capitol Grand, is a small box grocery store with an impressive yet casual feel.
Although the store is more the size of a convenience store, it gives shoppers a supermarket experience with clearly defined zones with a welcoming and personal customer experience.
As soon as you walk through the doors, you instantly get a real sense that this store is about ‘fresh’. Fresh food, fresh flowers and beautifully curated fresh meals and produce to die for!
This is a store where wine is merchandised with food and meal deals are presented in style.
With minimal use of digital signage, and a calming atmosphere, local businesspeople and residents could get carried away shopping at David Jones Food in preference over other local supermarket options.
Key takeaways from the David Jones food store visit
1. Commitment to fresh convenience.
You know you are in for an shopping adventure when fresh sandwiches become nutritious treats and you are encouraged to pick and curate your own prepared dinners.
2. Story telling.
Any good love affair has a story you never forget. David Jones food has one of those stories; where is the food from (and which came first, the chicken or the egg), how is it made, is it local, is it sustainable, is it loved. You see the product, you want to know more. The story does not dissapoint.
Photo Credit: Shop! ANZ
3. Fancy meal deals.
Just because it's David Jones, doesn't mean shoppers miss out on incentives and value driven decision making shopping. There are lunch savings and dinner packages for the family throughout the store, communicated via simple and cleanly designed signage that connects with the local shopper demographic. The evening 'meal deals' encourage healthy add on purchases. Grab a bottle of pinot grigio in the same fridge as your ready to heat tortellini and fresh vege bundles.
4. Stunning signage that connects with its market.
Minimal use of 2D stand-off category signage together with interior lighting, creating shadows and a unique shopper ambiance in David Jones food. Stylish black powder coated lettering, stands proud of the concrete backdrop. The signage design is very clever; its minimal styling perfectly defines each category, without taking away from the products on shelf.
Photo Credit: Shop! ANZ
5. Commitment to the environment and rightfully so.
Sustainability is vital ingredient in this market segments shopping experience. In this beautiful grocery store there is a real attempt to minimalise packaging materials, but in a practical and well thought out way. Fruit and vege's are prepacked into paper bags and everything else goes straight into your basket. No plastic or paper bags available in the store or at check-out. David Jones have incorporated sustainable practices into all levels of the shopping experience from buying locally produced items, to using your own shopping bag.
In Conclusion
I really admire David Jones's commitment to disrupt the status quo of supermarket design and retail marketing in Australia. They have challenged the market by exploring what supermarkets can do better, whilst staying true to both David Jones brand and the local shopper market.
The products being sold are imbecably currated (hats off to the DJ's buying team!) and the customer experience is gentle and thoughtfully nourishing.
With its casual yet glamorous feel, David Jones food looks sure to sway local grocery shopping connoisseurs.
For more information on the Shop! ANZ store visits, email shop@shopassociation.org.au
