Behind the scenes: The produce department at Raley’s O-N-E Market
Michael Schutt discusses new Raley's O-N-E Market
The first Raley’s O-N-E Market made its debut in late June in Truckee, Calif., its produce department filled with organic fruits and vegetables.
Roughly 80% of the produce in the store is organic, including more than 90% of the value-added case, said senior category manager for produce and floral Michael Schutt.
“That was one of the areas where we thought we would have some of the most challenges, but we know in the industry that over the last two decades, organic has become more and more accessible, and not just for the customer but obviously for retailers to procure as well,” Schutt said.
“And so when we started to dive into this project, we were surprised at how many of these categories in fresh-cut, whether it be fresh-cut veg, certainly in salads, veg trays, cut fruit, a lot of these items we were really able to cover off with organic offerings, and I would tell you that the value-added case, behind the doors ... our last count, that was about 92% organic," Schutt said.
The store has numerous sustainable features, including motion sensors in all refrigerated and frozen cases, high-efficiency LED lighting and solar panels, among other elements, according to a news release.
The produce department also has several noteworthy components, including the latest generation of Hussmann refrigerated cases.
“I went for things that provided the biggest opening, that showed off the most product, gave us the best holding power under refrigeration to keep those products fresh,” Schutt said.
Raley’s O-N-E Market also incorporates new wet wall shelving from Carlson AirFlo that it discovered last year at the Produce Marketing Association Fresh Summit.
“What I wanted to achieve and I think we’ve really knocked out of the park is that wet organic section really looks like a quilt, and we were able to achieve that by using these (AirShelf) shelves that the shelf is about half the size of a regular shelf,” Schutt said.
“It really disappears; all you see is product," Schutt said. "They’re also in two-foot versus four-foot elements, and that gives us a highly customizable shelf that will ebb and flow throughout seasonality and really look outstanding all year long.”
So far the store has enjoyed great reception, extremely busy even though Raley’s didn’t publicize the opening the way it normally would given the pandemic, Schutt said.
Raley’s O-N-E Market is one of several stores the retailer has opened in the last few months. The company also opened a new flagship location in Sacramento, Calif., and its new Rancho Murieta location is the first full-service grocery store in that community. Raley’s also got a dark store up and running to help support its increased online grocery sales.
“Raley’s has been in a mode for about the last decade of kind of pruning our tree so that we’d be ready to grow, and this was the year that we had on the calendar that we were going to kind of push out our branches and push some buds out, and we didn’t let COVID stop us,” Schutt said. “We had three on the books this year, and we actually opened up three stores, (including a proof-of-concept store), and then also a dark store, which behaves as an e-commerce hub, which was something else that we hadn’t done, so it’s been an incredibly busy year.”
The new Raley’s O-N-E Market format is one the company is excited about because it reflects the organization’s overall direction. In recent years, Raley’s has made numerous changes in an effort to help shoppers live healthier lives, including removing tobacco products, deploying checkstands with healthier items, and promoting awareness of added sugar. The new format aims to continue along those lines of helping set shoppers up for success.
“This is kind of the full expression of where we want to go and make these bold moves as we try and not just intersect with where the customer is on their wellness journey but help them down the path by providing the products they want,” Schutt said.
For more conversations about new stores and remodels, check out the following:
