Concourse C at Chicago's International Airport was bursting with great merchandising ideas during my most recent visit. As seen below American Dog had some great backlit light boxes with high impact culinary photography. The outside eating area is constructed with a barrier lined with great imagery as well. American Dog has converted most of the available surfaces into major marketing opportunities.
Visually the under counter chip display below works. Although this display is not manicured or filled, I like the use of the vertical space...which when filled would create a massive wall of product with many facings. My critique is simply that the depth of the shelf appears to only hold one layer of product. The challenge occurs once a purchase is made, leaving a blank whole in the display. This display would be best improved with 2 layers of product to solve this challenge.
The picture below was taken through the plastic air cover on the refrigerated cooler. The package is filled with a sandwich with an open window. This operator (I believe HMS Host) filled the window with the exciting garnish and meat (so many vendors make a sandwich look like a loaf of bread). The kraft bag looks natural and gift like with the ribbon wrap.
The sandwich board below is an "in-your-face" call to action. The pink color stands out in contrast to the surroundings and in contrast to the chocolate ice cream. The rounded top separates this sign from it's regular rectangle counter parts.
This special unit below has an under tray counter beverage cooler. I've never seen this before. The beverages are very well lit.
This acrylic rack expanded upon the shelf of the beverage case. The tie in and cross-selling opportunity is great in a very limited space.
The display case below was interesting because it did not contain trays for the baked goods. This strategy has 100% product view and really looked great in a well-lit manner.
The shape of this sign and it's old fashioned look really caught my attention. It is one of many of the like in the Jazz themed food court which included many concepts such as Manchu Wok, a sandwich shop, bar, and Edy's Ice Cream. It's certainly an original look.
Great culinary decorations and ideas are all around you if you take a moment to collect them. I recommend snapping a quick photo if possible and keep an idea file or directory on your computer. With sites like pinterest, etc. it is easy to create boards on particular topics to reference as projects arise in your organization.
Finding Great Ideas for your Food Business.
Ideas and challenges are all around us. Taking a close look at retailers in all industries can be as simple as a focused shopping trip. Other opportunities can be observed by simply slowing down and looking at your business critically for the purpose of continuous merchandising improvement. Our team helps grow food sales through professional advice, but you can too by starting with a self-analysis.
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