Huck’s Market the Future is Grocerant Niche Food

 

Turning the corner from being a convenience store that sells food and food products to a grocerant niche fresh prepared market that gas is a lot of work according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®. 

There is no doubt that as Huck’s continues remodeling stores to its new design that highlights foodservice, while integrating technology for a seamless shopping experience the process of just being a convenience store is now in somewhere in the past.

So, following it’s positioning as Huck’s Market in 2020, Huck’s has been busy redesigning stores, growing its foodservice menu and investing in new technology, including self-checkout and frictionless payments.

In case you did not know, Huck’s can trace its roots to 1960 when founders Frank Bayley and Bob Martin partnered to open Big John supermarkets. They grew the business from southern Illinois into Kentucky and Tennessee. The following is from Erin Del Conte of CS Decisions

“Brittany Bayley, vice president of marketing at Huck’s, stated, “After they got started with Big John’s, they realized that Walmart and other bigger retailers were going to be main players in the grocery business,”.

Thus, the founders found another way to evolve and that was when the first Huck’s convenience store opened in Grayville, Ill., in 1974. Currently, Huck’s operates 125 c-store locations in five Midwest states — Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri and Tennessee. 

You’re going to love this, Huck’s most recent new-to-industry store opened last month in Hannibal, Mo., the hometown of Mark Twain, who wrote “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,” for which Huck’s is named. Twain published the renowned book on Feb. 18, 1885. By coincidence, the Huck’s team planned the store opening Feb. 17, just one day shy of the publication’s anniversary. 

“It was just a cool fact that we found out after we were getting ready to launch the store,” Bayley said. 

Huck’s operations area is positioned within the vicinity of its warehouse, Carmi Wholesale Distributors, which delivers to its c-stores twice a week.

“I would say 85% if not more of our items that you see in the store retail-wise are delivered by our warehouse,” Bayley said. 

That includes foodservice products and ingredients — such as the breading for its chicken program — and tobacco items, cold vault and freezer products, and more. 

“We are our distributor, except for a handful of direct store delivery suppliers,” Bayley said.  

Forward Thinking Family Business can Sustain Success

The second and third generations of the Martin and Bayley families are active in the company today. 

“My grandfather was Frank Bayley,” Bayley noted. Her father, Mark Bayley, is currently the chairman of Huck’s parent company, Martin & Bayley Inc. Her brother Landon is the company’s vice president of fuel. Charles Martin, Bob Martin’s son, serves as vice-chairman. His son Lance Martin is a regional director at Huck’s. 

Brittany Bayley started with the company in 2009. Each member of the third generation — Brittany, Landon and Lance — started out working in the c-stores after college, training at the associate level, managing stores and working their way up through the company.  

“We like to ensure that all of us have a good idea of how our stores work and what our associates and our managers go through each and every day,” Bayley said. “So, that’s kind of the base training for anybody you would see at our position, or even at the field level. We like to promote from within. That’s really part of our culture.”

That applies even to Martin & Bayley’s CEO Murat Tokad, who joined Huck’s in 2004 as division manager and worked his way up through the company, holding roles as regional director, vice president of operations, executive vice president and president before taking the helm as CEO in May 2019. 

In March 2001, the families turned the company into an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP), an employee benefit plan that gives workers ownership interest in the company.

“That decision empowered the associates to be more than just an employee. They’re an owner. We went along that trail to empower them to think more as running their own business and not someone else’s,” Bayley said. “The ESOP acts as an additional retirement plan that doesn’t require any contribution from the associate, other than their time.”

The ESOP helps employees see firsthand how their work makes a critical impact on the business’s success, Bayley noted, and helps to grow their retirement account.

Rebranding Initiative 

Huck’s introduced a prototype store in January 2020 in Seymour, Ind., featuring a fresh design with updated branding reflecting a name evolution to ‘Huck’s Market.’ 

“We saw things evolving and other retailers changing around us. We felt like there was a need for us to center ourselves and position ourselves with a new look,” Bayley said.  

Huck’s partnered with GSP on the store’s design to incorporate that legacy Huck’s feel and evolve it into something fresh and new that emphasized the market approach to convenience, emphasizing foodservice.  

“A big part of the redesign was not only branding the Huck’s Market, but better focusing and showcasing our food programs, which had always been there, but we wanted to bring them to the forefront because we know food is our future,” Bayley said. 

The updated color scheme fades out the previous red and yellow with a modern, woodgrain look. 

Huck’s has since completed several remodels on legacy stores and is continuing its remodel and rebranding initiative in 2022, with a goal of rolling the design out to its entire fleet of stores in the next three years. Huck’s also has plans to roll the new look out to new-to-industry stores in the future. 

“We have several properties that are secured for the new look,” Bayley said. 

New-to-industry stores will measure over 6,000 square feet, up from the 3,000-4,200 square feet of legacy stores. Most of Huck’s stores feature Huck’s branded gas and six to 14 gas pumps in the forecourt. It’s also testing electric vehicle charging at its Beaver Dam, Ky., location, where it’s encouraging customers to spend time in-store while they charge up. 

Elevating Food

Huck’s features grab-and-go, proprietary and co-branded foodservice, with plans to expand into made-to-order in the future. 

“We are partnered with Godfather’s Pizza at over 70 locations. We also offer our proprietary brand of chicken, the Cluck’s Chicken brand, at 72 locations,” said David Grimes, vice president of foodservice for Huck’s. 

Grimes has been with Huck’s for nine years. He served as a district manager and regional director before stepping up to the plate to direct foodservice initiatives. 

“We’re in the process of developing our Huck’s Kitchen brand underneath the Huck’s Market umbrella,” Grimes said. “The development of the Huck’s Kitchen logo is complete, and we continue to evaluate and enhance our offers.”

As part of the Huck’s Kitchen program, the chain is offering new foodservice concepts including Bigg Fresh, Bigg Breakfast and Bigg Bakery. 

Bigg Fresh features several wrap varieties, including Crispy Buffalo Chicken, Crispy Ranch Chicken, a Caesar wrap, turkey and ham wraps, as well as sub sandwiches on both traditional and pretzel buns. The program also includes several different salads. The Bigg Breakfast program includes sausage and bacon offerings on bagels, biscuits, croissants or burritos. Offers also include Texas Toast sandwich varieties, breakfast steak and biscuits, and gravy. 

Customers can find Bigg Breakfast items in the hot hold and Bigg Fresh items in 48-inch deli cases. Huck’s also features a smaller ‘Snack Attack’ case that includes grab-and-go items such as meat snacks, cheeses and healthy options.

“Bigg Bakery includes several doughnut varieties, to include long johns, ring donuts, Persians and a variety of delicious muffins and cookie offers,” Grimes said. 

The chain’s proprietary Cluck’s Chicken program includes hand-breaded chicken. 

“We proudly sell a marinated chicken tender with our proprietary breading blend that we use to hand-bread our products. Other category offers include potato wedges, bone-in chicken, honey-battered wings, and livers and gizzards,” said Grimes. “Our proprietary blend of seasoning is something that we are super proud of. We think it’s just a great product. It gives a great flavor profile to our tenders, our wedges, our bone-in chicken.”

Huck’s features a coffee section branded Daybreak Café. As it remodels stores and opens new locations, it’s adding bean-to-cup coffee. “At this point, I would say we’re pretty happy with it,” Grimes said. 

When it comes to cold dispensed, Huck’s features its Bigg Swigg fountain program and also offers a Fresh Blends smoothie unit featuring fruit, milk and coffee-based smoothies at its newest locations. 

The chain is also delving into catering. 

Tech Focused

Huck’s provides food and product delivery with the help of third-party apps. 

“In every area where we can be, we’re partnered with the third-party delivery services Grubhub, Uber Eats and DoorDash. At our Godfather’s Pizza locations, we have Godfather’s Pizza Online,” Grimes said. 

While the chain offered curbside pickup as an option during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, there wasn’t a significant demand for it in Huck’s market area. 

Huck’s is currently integrating online ordering and third-party delivery into its Huck’s Bucks Bigg Rewards app. 

The Huck’s Bucks Bigg Rewards app features its near-five-star-rated loyalty program. 

Huck’s is currently testing self-checkout kiosks and preparing to expand that to more locations. The chain also features bitcoin kiosks and bitcoin ATMs in several sites. And it has a gaming section in several of its Illinois’s stores. 

Huck’s also features frictionless payment through the Skip app at all locations. Customers open the Skip app, scan the items and pay within the app. Huck’s is now working to integrate the Skip frictionless payment with its Huck’s Bucks app, so customers only need to open the Huck’s app to both pay and receive loyalty rewards in the future. 

“We are also building out alternative payments (ACH, PayPal, Venmo, etc.), online ordering and digital fuel pump activation,” Bayley noted. “Currently, we are working on integrating all of these features into a single-app ecosystem to streamline the customer’s experience and be able to engage with the Huck’s brand inside, (in the) forecourt or from home.”  So now are you wondering if you are evolving fast enough?

Looking for success clues of your own? Foodservice Solutions® specializes in outsourced food marketing and business development ideations. We can help you identify, quantify and qualify additional food retail segment opportunities, technology, or a new menu product segment.  Foodservice Solutions® of Tacoma WA is the global leader in the Grocerant niche visit us on our social media sites by clicking one of the following links: Facebook,  LinkedIn, or Twitter

Restaurants, Convenience stores, Grocery stores can choose to Evolve or Die

It is at the intersection of customer migration, instant gratification, digital natives and retail food sales that we find growing success, including top line sales, bottom line profits expanding, Gen Z and Millennials finding comfort and new comfort food and beverages according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.

Recently Spencer Baird, EVP and president, martech, Inmar Intelligence wrote a white paper titled:

Nothing in Retail Is Guaranteed, Except These Things where he with clear detail outlined why companies within the foodservice space need to evolve.  The team at Foodservice Solutions® believes that it is well worth the time it takes to read. 

So, here it is:

Personalized, targeted digital marketing and messaging will need to reach shoppers in more places than ever, motivate shoppers in more ways than ever, and create relationships with shoppers that are stronger than ever.

Whether you call them predictions, forecasts or guesses, we’re confident the following things will be true for retailers this year — no matter what curveballs get thrown at them. Why? We believe we’re in for the biggest shift in retail history, revolving around the dramatic change to digital mindsets.

The most important things in retail will become even more important. The things that have always been important to retailers — convenience, value and personalization — will continue to matter. In fact, they’ll matter more than ever. However, the ways that retailers deliver on those three core ideas is ripe for innovation.

·         The hybrid in-store and online model will continue to explode because it delivers convenience for shoppers.

·         Bundling will need to be redefined to offer even larger value to customers.

·         Personalized white-glove service will have to expand beyond the in-store experience.

A study conducted by Inmar in January of this year indicated that 96% of shoppers still made grocery purchases in-store in the prior three months, and 64% indicated that they also made online grocery purchases within the same period. That’s massive. But an ever-growing part of that in-store shopping is being driven by off-site and online experiences. Personalized, targeted digital marketing and messaging will need to reach shoppers in more places than ever, motivate shoppers in more ways than ever, and create relationships with shoppers that are stronger than ever. All of that messaging will need to be focused on new — and ever-changing—interpretations of convenience and value, because what matters to one shopper isn’t necessarily what matters to another.

Transform or Die

Staying laser-focused on customer needs is going to be increasingly important as everyone competes for wallet share, and that requires an organizational transformation that starts at the root level. Retailers will have to change their mindset, and make sure that every single thing they and their partners are doing in-store, online and off-site is geared to meeting those needs.

·         The retailers who understand transformation is a mindset problem will succeed on today’s playing field.

·         New tools will continue to provide insights into all customers, not just the most loyal ones, so it’s time to change the age-old habit of only focusing on the core 20%.

·         Curation can no longer be driven by shelves; it needs to be focused on meeting individual customer needs.

Transformation isn’t about checking off to-dos. It’s about making sure that you and your organization are continuously learning and improving. All of the data in the world won’t do you much good if you don’t use it to take an honest look at both your successes and failures. The truly great retailers — those that will be around to see the 2050 digital transformation trends — will never stop trying to learn, improve and transform.

Money Goes Where Money Grows

Retailers are rightfully sinking a lot of money into digital transformation. That trend is not only going to continue, but also accelerate, especially as businesses feel like they’re falling behind. How can we be so sure? Quite simply, those investments are paying off for retailers. That doesn’t mean businesses should just blindly buy digital tools and hope for a big payoff, however.

·         As digital transformation accelerates, measuring results is going to become increasingly important.

·         Attribution will become more complicated — and more crucial — as digital channels continue to multiply.

·         Investing in your company’s digital mindset, and changing the way your organization thinks about transformation, can have the biggest impact on ROI.

Whether your company is well on its way toward digital transformation or just getting started, one of the most important questions you’ll need to periodically reassess is, “How am I going to measure results?” The good news is that today’s cross-channel attribution can provide the measurements you need to ensure that you’re on the right path.

Results, Results, Results

Nobody likes to spend money on business tools that don’t succeed, or to invest in products and services that they don’t really need. That’s one of the core reasons that outcome as a service (OaaS) is starting to replace the traditional “buy it and hope it works” model. Another reason? Clients like knowing that their partners have a vested interest in their success.

·         The OaaS model will continue to create a stronger bond between retailers and their technology partners because of shared victories.

·         The entire commercial approach will continue to evolve and improve, because of true objective alignment focused on improving customer loyalty.

·         Collective learning that leads to joint improvement will be a topic that gains even more traction in ’22 and beyond, because learning is the root of resilience.

Much like the mindset shift required to make digital transformation successful, progressing toward an OaaS model will require cultural shifts that will ripple throughout organizations. It might not be comfortable at first, but in the end, this change is going to be better for everyone involved.

Are you ready for some fresh ideations? Do your food marketing ideas look more like yesterday than tomorrow? Interested in learning how our Grocerant Guru® can edify your retail food brand while creating a platform for consumer convenient meal participation, differentiation and individualization?  Email us at: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us or visit: us on our social media sites by clicking one of the following links: Facebook,  LinkedIn, or Twitter 

Frutta Bowls Developing Grocerant Niche Growth

 

The halo of ‘Better-4-You’ food and beverage is a mainstay of the grocerant niche and companies that want to drive top line growth and bottom line profits continue to follow consumers and migrate to the center of the grocerant niche for success according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.

So, for those of you who did not know, Frutta Bowls, a WOWorks brand and the nation’s fastest-growing superfoods cafe franchise, expanded its grocery store-within-store locations with multi-unit franchisee partners Curtis High and Jordan Rideout. The pair recently opened the brand’s first franchisee-owned Frutta Bowls restaurant in a grocery store in Doylestown, PA.

So, just what does that mean? Well, Curtis High and Jordan Rideout are owners of eight Saladworks locations throughout Pennsylvania and Delaware. While Curtis had a restaurant business background working with Yum! Brands, Jordan worked for Home Depot as a store manager for ten years. They came together in 2007 to purchase three Saladworks franchise agreements. As they saw success with their restaurants, they spent the next several years acquiring and opening more Saladworks locations in their region. Today, they have five restaurants in central Pennsylvania and two in Delaware. This is the duo’s first Frutta Bowls restaurant and first store-within-a-store grocery location.

Then Curtis and Jordan decided to invest in a Frutta Bowls franchise because of its focus on fresh, health-halo ingredients and its natural fit with their Saladworks restaurants. “When we reviewed and visited Frutta Bowls restaurants after WOWorks’ acquisition, we immediately saw how their menu of fresh smoothies, bowls and bites appeal to young people and families who are trying to find healthy and convenient meals that also taste great,” says Jordan Rideout, co-owner of Frutta Bowls. “We were especially attracted to the possibility of co-branding Frutta Bowls and Saladworks restaurants. If this Frutta Bowls location does well, we intend on co-branding all our existing Saladworks locations with Frutta Bowls restaurants.”

So, the Frutta Bowls grocery store location in Doylestown, PA, is expected to create 10-15 jobs. To open this Frutta Bowls store-within-a-store location, WOWorks facilitated several interviews between Curtis and Jordan with the grocery store chain executives and coordinated walk-throughs in the franchisees’ stand-alone restaurants. With attractive back-end efficiencies; a quicker timeline to build out and open; and menu options that cover all dayparts, Curtis and Jordan are hoping they will be able to forge a positive relationship with the grocery company to open several more locations with the chain.

Kelly Roddy, CEO of WOWorks, stated, “We are happy to welcome Curtis High and Jordan Rideout to the Frutta Bowls family,” … “Our grocery store and co-branding restaurant model is helping our franchisee network expand in non-traditional verticals and increase revenue with their existing WOWorks’ restaurant investment. Co-branding allows franchisees to open multiple restaurant brands together, tap into several dayparts, and enjoy greater efficiencies due to shared back-end operations and equipment.”

If you are looking to get into the grocerant niche think about the fact that WOWorks is actively seeking qualified franchise partners interested in multi-unit and single-unit ownership, preferably individuals with business experience and/or franchise experience, and a passion for serving guests.

Foodservice Solutions® team is here to help you drive top line sales and bottom-line profits. Are you looking a customer ahead? Visit GrocerantGuru.com for more information or contact: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us Remember success does leave clues and we just may the clue you need to propel your continued success.

Army & Air Force Exchange Service Has Foodservice Relevance

 

Regular readers of this blog know that Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions® spent three years working with the Department of Defense Navy MWR group developing and rolling out Parcheesi Pizza and other concepts at US bases around the world.  Our men and women in the Armed Forces are eating much better today around the world for the team and his work.  

Grocerant niche success meets the Army & Air Force Exchange Service's (AAFES) nearly 150 micro markets are growing rapidly as an option where service members can fuel up with better-for-you meals and snacks while staying close to their workplace. That’s right Grocerant niche Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared food.

AAFES, is state of art foodservice as they are fully automated and contactless, the self-serve markets are positioned near soldiers, airmen, guardians and Department of Defense civilians working unusual hours or in high-traffic or out-of-the-way areas. Exchange micro markets can be found throughout the continental United States as well as one location at U.S. Army Garrison Bavaria in Germany.

All of this success takes time, first introduced in 2014 at the Raven Rock Mountain Complex in Blue Ridge Summit, Pa., micro markets are a fast-growing segment with 46 new locations opened in 2021. About 45 additional micro markets are planned to open throughout the continental United States in 2022, according to AAFES.

Now like all chains offerings vary by location, with most offering fresh salads, fruit and other sustenance options that support a "BE FIT" lifestyle. Select locations also offer over-the-counter medicines, personal hygiene items and other sundries.

Air Force Chief Master Sgt. Kevin Osby, Exchange senior enlisted advisor, stated, "Contactless shopping options are in demand, and the Exchange is excited to offer more self-service convenience for the military communities we are honored to serve," ... "Micro markets strengthen the Exchange's longstanding commitment to 'go where you go' to support mission readiness and resiliency."

Regular readers of this blog understand that micro markets offer a more varied product assortment compared to traditional vending machines. With micro markets, items can be displayed similarly to a traditional convenience store, only with a self-checkout system for contactless convenience. Micro markets at Fort Campbell, Fort Hood and Scott Air Force Base now also accept the MILITARY STAR card as the Exchange continues to expand this program.

In case you did not know, The Army & Air Force Exchange Service first expanded its offering of on-the-go meals and other products, including better-for-you options that support a "BE FIT" lifestyle at micro markets across the U.S. more than two years ago.

The "BE FIT" program features products meeting the following criteria:

·         Fewer than 500 calories and less than 480 milligrams of sodium for entrees

·         Two hundred calories or less and fewer than 230 milligrams of sodium for snacks

·         Forty percent or less of calories from fat for entrees and snacks

·         Fewer than 10 percent of calories from saturated fat for entrees and snacks

Dallas-based AAFES operates 3,500 facilities consisting of department stores, convenience stores, gas stations, restaurants, theaters and specialty stores on military installations in all 50 states, five U.S. territories and 33 countries.

Since 1895, AAFES has helped soldiers, airmen, guardians and their families to improve the quality of their lives by providing valued goods and services at exclusive military pricing. The Exchange is the 54th-largest retailer in the U.S.

This is important, one hundred percent of Exchange earnings support military communities. In the last 10 years, the Exchange has provided $3.4 billion in earnings for critical military quality-of-life programs. The Exchange is a non-appropriated fund entity of the Department of Defense and is directed by a board of directors. The Exchange is a 50th Anniversary Vietnam War Commemorative Partner, planning and conducting events and activities that recognize the service, valor and sacrifice of Vietnam Veterans and their families in conjunction with the United States of America Vietnam War Commemoration.

Don’t over reach. Are you ready for some fresh ideations? Do your food marketing ideations look more like yesterday than tomorrow? Interested in learning how Foodservice Solutions® can edify your retail food brand while creating a platform for consumer convenient meal participation, differentiation and individualization?  Email us at: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us or visit us on our social media sites by clicking the following links: Facebook,  LinkedIn, or Twitter