Image courtesy bizjournals.com
Dean & DeLuca is a well known American chain of upscale grocery stores.
On April 1, 2020, this grocery store chain filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the United States District Court. Six affiliated companies also filed for bankruptcy.
I do not wish to bring up a daunting story such as this during this economic downtime. However, as we face uncertainties around COVID-19 restrictions, I think it could be an excellent financial and social opportunity to bring Dean & DeLuca’s luxury grocery shopping experience to the outdoors.
You might ask, “So how can we repeat that experience in the outdoors setting?”
Three-parti grocery shopping experience
One of the Dean & DeLuca locations in Georgetown was just closed after 25 years of operation. The store utilized an existing 8700 square feet historical building with 1750 square feet of the semi-outdoor seating area. At this 44 feet by 190 feet footprint, this store demonstrated Dean & DeLuca’s typical layout: this three-parti grocery shopping experience with an additional resting area. The core space was divided into the following sections:
the checkout/entrance display
the food prep at middle
a wine/coffee section at the back.
There are shelves of exotic goods at the perimeters, premium olive oils, and other fancy seasonings.
By implementing this three-parti concept, we can have a similar shopping experience with a much more affordable price under this new proposed layout.
The fist version of shopping modality layout from “How can Farmers Market adapt layouts to meet Social Distancing Guidelines“
The second version of shopping modality based on Dean & DeLuca shopping experience.
Here you can see the comparison between the Dean & DeLuca and Farmers Market adaptive layouts.
The vendor spaces would increase from 6-11 vending spots at the central area. Additional seating set up for dining purchased food onsite also helps enhance the outdoor grocery shopping experience and generate sales.
There would be also forward and front displays at the market entrance to add visual interests for shoppers
A sustainability side note: if you ever question how extreme temperatures might affect the mood of shoppers. Most parking lots have trees planted along the longitude side of parking grids, offering a shading device for shoppers during the hot seasons. Moreover, adding trees around parking lots and pavement areas improves appearance, prevents soil erosion, and adds oxygen to the environment. Planted areas also reduce stormwater runoff and function as a buffer to wind and noise.
An architecture side notes: If you wonder what “Parti“ is in this context? Here is a good reference from Wikipedia. “In architecture, a parti is an organizing thought or decision behind an architect's design, presented in the form of a basic diagram or a simple statement. It may be shortened to parti.”