INDUSTRY WATCH

Swiss Farms to Open Drive-Thru Prototype

Outdoor LED display will tie merchandise offerings to the weather forecast
and a series of 46-inch screen displays communicate product offerings

COLUMBUS, OH — On Nov. 14, Swiss Farms, America’s drive-through grocer, will unveil its new prototype store designed by retail design and branding firm, Chute Gerdeman Retail.

The new store, in Ridley Township, PA, features a new brand identity, an eye-catching barn motif and 21st century touches, including LED displays that tie merchandise offerings to the weather forecast.

Chute Gerdeman worked with Swiss Farms to develop everything from the new store design to a new brand identity. The resulting new prototype is Swiss Farms’ 13th location.

Swiss Farms wanted to reposition their stores as the customer’s in-between shopping trip, broadening the focus from dairy to a wider food offering, including produce and hot dinners such as rotisserie chicken. “We’re a fill-in provisional store,” said Paul Friel, Swiss Farms CEO, comparing his store to the express lane of a supermarket with a drive-through option.

Regarding one of Swiss Farms’ biggest challenges, Friel posed the question, “How do you tell people what’s inside the store when it’s all drive-through?” Chute Gerdeman designers literally sat in the driver’s seat to answer that question, finding new ways to reach Swiss Farms’ on-the-go customer, while pulling in new customers as well.

Technology provided one answer, as a 3’9” high, 6’3” wide pylon LED sign increases visibility from the street. And a series of 46-inch screen displays communicate product offering to customers in the drive through. Color also was put to work, as Swiss Farms’ customary colors were reversed, with red walls topped by a white roof. The barn motif has been ramped up a few notches, creating an eye-catching, all-American appeal.

Shopping is easier for customers in their cars, thanks to floor-to-ceiling windows and the use of visual merchandising, with strategically placed product displays. Thanks to advanced technology that links the stores to a meteorological website, customers will also find display screens suggesting products appropriate for the current time of day as well as the weather conditions.

Additional service doors have been added, allowing several customers to be assisted simultaneously, and adding to the quick and easy experience Swiss Farms promises to customers.

Chute Gerdeman also worked with Swiss Farms to update its brand identity, creating a “fresh from the farm” feel with an iconic rooster, sunrise imagery, and new color palette, communicating the freshness of the product offering. The curved horizon line gives the feeling of a landscape and speaks to the speed of the shopping process.

“We wanted a design that really told customers what we are, and that created a competitive position against grocery stores,” Friel said. “Chute Gerdeman did an excellent job at both.”

Swiss Farms has plans to retrofit all of the 12 Delaware County Swiss Farms locations over the next three years.