Waitrose experiments with wines and bakery areas with revamp

Waitrose and John Lewis have been a fixture in Kingston for more than two decades, occupying a very large structure perched on the edge of the Thames.

Waitrose sits in the basement, while John Lewis trades from the multiple levels above it. One of the things that used to mark out the interior of this rather odd building was the fact that it had a hole in its middle. At the bottom of the hole was the basement, and John Lewis shoppers could stand and peer down at Waitrose as they leant on a balustrade that encircled the void. From this vantage point there was a view of a perfectly respectable iteration of a Waitrose of old.

There were long runs of white gondolas, chiller units and suchlike and it was a mite antiseptic-looking. That was then, however. A few months ago, the hole was filled in, giving John Lewis about 4,000 sq ft of additional selling space and putting to rights what always looked like a cavalier disregard of commercial necessity, even if the views were good. The hole-filling has been part of a revamp for both John Lewis and Waitrose in this location.

The outcome is a John Lewis refurbishment that brings it up to speed with many of the other branches in the portfolio - and it looks much better for it. In the basement, however, Waitrose has not only had a makeover, but has also been the location for trials of new bakery and wines and spirits areas, both of which are quite substantial.

The Kingston demographic is affluent compared with much of London, and perhaps unsurprisingly many of these relatively wealthy shoppers choose Waitrose for their food shopping. For this reason, when it comes to choosing wine there are plenty of shoppers who are interested in the category and who will spend time looking at labels and learning about vintages, according to Waitrose head of store development Anthony Wysome.

He cautions that there are also plenty of shoppers who may not wish to do this and the new layout and look of the department is about engaging with them. And whatever angle you happen to approach this part of the store from, it would be hard to walk past and not steal a glance. To a large extent, this is due to the lighting and a back wall featuring a series of wood-surround, internally-lit pigeonholes.

Pendant lights with small, circular white shades ensure the eye is caught, if only because there is nothing else like them in the shop and because they are not the sort of thing you expect to find in a supermarket. The back wall feature is in fact a network of light wood frames that form boxes, each of which has a green backing and each containing its own bottle of wine. As a showcase for what the department does, this looks strong.

There are a number of other elements that boost the visual profile of this department, one of them being a central pillar-cum-beacon formed of wire grids into which coloured cubes, information graphics and bottles of wine have been dropped. Like the back wall, this is a ‘look at me’ gesture.

After this, it’s the table that is the real highlight of the department. This is made from plain wood and extends from one side of the beacon-pillar towards the back wall. Wooden stools have been placed around it and bottles of wine, books on the subject and a pair of white iPads have been placed on it. This is almost a decompression zone where shoppers can sit and relax as they consider a purchase. If information about wine is required, then the books and iPads are certainly one option, but the Partner wandering around wearing a bib that states ‘wines and spirits expert’, is possibly a less taxing and more informative alternative.

It is worth noting that while this may be a destination for lovers of the grape, Waitrose is aware that bulk buyers also pass along its aisles. There are therefore multiple gondola-ends with promotional offers. And alongside some of the gondola-ends graphics bearing the words ‘take time and browse online’, serve as a reminder that John Lewis is part of a retail organisation with multichannel at its heart.

The other trial area in this store is the bakery. In most branches of Waitrose, this department is already something of a highlight, and Wysome says a decision was taken late in the day to incorporate a small cafe as part of the mix. “It is a work in progress,” he says but, nonetheless, the stools that front a long shelf adjacent to the bakery all had occupants on the day of visiting, busy drinking coffee and eating cakes.

The food on offer is upscale and in the mid-shop there is a freestanding unit bearing products from some of the bakery world’s bigger names: Poilâne, Gail’s and ‘handmade Italian baking’ from the Exeter Street Bakery.
This is all intended to put shoppers in the mood for buying occasion breads and cakes at a price level the big four supermarkets might shy away from. In terms of ambience, an aquamarine tiled wall and a counter formed of mixed wood strips strike an aspirational note, as do the off-white pendant lights above the bakery counter and along the coffee shelf.

And if there were any doubt about the freshness of the products, a graphic with a clockface and words stating ‘more fresh bread coming soon’, serve to dispel this.

Elements of both the wine and spirits area and the bakery department may not make it beyond Kingston, but there are enough new ideas here to be reasonably certain that this store will serve, in large measure, as a template for other departments when refurbs are undertaken.

Wysome makes the point that Kingston is the outcome of considerable research, but one of the interesting points about what has been done is that while it may be different from elsewhere, it is unmistakably Waitrose.

This is in-store evolution and something different will undoubtedly follow in its wake. For the moment at least, however, this is worth a visit.