Best Mid-Budget Remodel Runner-Up: Cruizers

Best Mid-Budget Remodel
Honorable mention: Cruizers, Raleigh, N.C.
Designer: Phillips Architecture

With design objectives to open the store’s floor plan and improve merchandise visibility, Cruizers’ 2,300-square-foot store remodel in Raleigh, N.C., puts a special emphasis on dispensed beverages.

Initially, the store’s sales counter was 6 inches from the front door, which not only blocked customers from entering the store but also limited visibility of the dispensed beverages and the cooler, according to Holmes Oil, parent company of the Cruizers brand.

The remodel moved the sales counter to the right front of the store, thus opening it up to be more inviting to customers, and also included a new beverage bar, restroom remodel and new cooler doors.

Since the remodel, Holmes Oil has seen a 35-percent increase in merchandise sales, a double-digit coffee sales increase, an increase in fountain units by 1,000 percent, and frozen units are up by more than 1,500 percent. Customer traffic also increased 20 percent, the retailer reported.