Booths - A northern utopia
14 April 2014
Booths
How food should be done?
Not many readers of this email will likely have been to Booths, a northern based supermarket who occupy towns such as Ilkley, Ripon, Kendal and Windermere.
They're arguably as well known for having their fantastic (lest I've not visited) MediaCity store in Salford along with a number of stores near their headquartered location in Preston.
The stores aren't huge and focus heavily on the counter offering, similar to Morrisons Market St albeit one 'flow' - so in Ilkley fish is separate but the Meat, Deli, Cheese, Olives are all together in one flow.
Produce is an area where Booths differentiate, there are no wide ranges or misty veg units. It's a great blend of a core range, alongside some of the more premium variants but it's displayed in a rustic 'farmers market' style.
Clever use of wooden crates, mid aisle stacks / breakpoints improve the flow, certainly when compared to the faceless green plastic crates we see in many other retailers.
Chalk written signage is always a winner, and makes things look 'home made' rather than paper based shelf edge labels everywhere.
There is a great focus on loose Produce too across the range, traditionally avoided by the multiple retailers due to wastage / shrinkage / pricing issues at the checkout.
Clever use of wooden bowls for Potatoes also adds to a feel of the 'farm shop'.
There is much to admire about Booths and the usage of 'theatre' on Produce, which is low cost when compared to the wider Produce revamps we see elsewhere.
Herbs are well merchandised below, stood up in crates / poly cases giving an impression of a full, vibrant display. Note the absence of expensive kit such as misters and water based displays.
Front of department displays, complete with wicker baskets showcase latest in season Fruit & Veg - Yorkshire Rhubarb for example is always popular.
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Feature tables at the front of the store are used to highlight the next event in the calendar, at the minute it's Easter; Simnel Cakes and Hot Cross Buns are the order of the day.
The Bakery is a small bake off operation, with a heavy slant towards loose cakes and rolls, this year the Bakery also has Giant Hot Cross buns.
Meat and Fish is a core part of the Booths offer, and these counters are incredibly popular despite a strong pre packaged in aisle offering too.
Meat and Fish are UK sourced and there is typically a strong promotion running, with round price points advertised.
The core Meat offer is centred around Joints and Steaks but there is a small range of prepared Peri Peri Chicken and other prepared Meat / Sauces.
Booths have added a 'to go' counter too in Ilkley, serving Jacket Potatoes, Breakfast sandwiches along with Pork / Beef sandwiches too.
It's not a half measure, the Beef and Pork are Booths own label, cooked in store and then cut up for sandwiches to order, a great initiative.
The Grocery range is compact but certainly offering enough to complete a full shop, there are brands alongside the Booths own label.
There is a focus on smaller brands, some local especially in areas such as Confectionery where luxury, harder to source Chocolate is available.
A strong price point but Booths know their customers, the recently launched Booths card will help them understand their buying habits even more.
As if to further highlight the affluence, Booths Ilkley has a 'Cook!' freezer, these are meals used by dinner party hosts to fool guests into thinking it's been cooked fresh for them.
A good store and indeed a good chain, most of the retailers already know their affluent stores and tilt their ranging accordingly.
How long before we see formats - a Booths 'lite' from Tesco for example to further highlight their offer in affluent stores?
That's one area that would really serve the current business well, differing formats within formats.
The last FREE email.
I know you're overwhelmed with generic, rewritten press releases and non specific insight from the food retail space.
This email service will fill in those gaps, offering incisive trend spotting, covering new stores and day to day 'from the ground' store insight rolled up into thrice weekly emails.
Subscription is £20 per month (66p a day!) and for a limited time, there's an extra month free for subscribing today. I'll also send out a detailed store report of the Co-Operative 'Gen2' store format too.
Can you afford to be without it?
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From the Grocery Insight newsletter archive, first sent to subscribers on 14 April 2014. Steve now writes at read.groceryinsight.com. See also the blog archive and briefings.