C-store Designer Joe Bona Rebrands Foodservice Venture

NEW YORK — Global design firm MoseleyBona Retail has rebranded and reincorporated as Bona Design Lab LLC following the 2016 death of longtime foodservice consultant Thomas C. Moseley Jr., who co-founded the firm in 2016 with veteran convenience store/petroleum designer and consultant Joseph Bona.

Bona acquired the outstanding shares of MoseleyBona Retail from Moseley's estate and relocated the business from Massachusetts to New York, with an office in London via an alliance with Dan Munford of Insight Research, a U.K.-based global specialist in convenience retail strategy.

"Tom and I were just getting started with MoseleyBona Retail when the devastating news came that Tom, who was only 58 years old, had passed away while traveling in Saudi Arabia," Bona said. "I am so thankful for the time I was able to spend with him and am particularly grateful for the generous support I have received from his family. Bona Design Lab will continue our mission of delivering transformative design and consulting services to c-store, fuel and food retailers around the world."

The new firm's suite of services includes brand strategy, consumer insights, naming/logo development, site planning, store layout, exterior/interior design and graphic design. Its business analysis/consulting capabilities run the gamut from menu and communications strategies, to equipment layout and workflow analysis, to financial metrics and operational consulting, the company said.

"Our goal is to help leaders in this sector integrate the science of retail with the art of retail design," Bona said. "However, this isn't just about big-picture strategy. Bona Design Lab drills into the details of practical execution." Toward that end, the firm assists clients with concept rollouts, architectural drawings, project management, culinary initiatives and integration of the latest touchscreen and digital menu technology.

Bona's retail design career spans 30 years and six continents. After spending 21 years at CDI Group, where he eventually became president, Bona was the founding partner and president of GroupRed, which later merged with branding and design consultancy CBX in the mid-2000s. At CBX, Bona served as president of branded environments for a decade and personally directed a wide range of initiatives for companies such as Duane Reade, Shinsegae Department Stores, Wawa, Statoil, Topaz, PetroChina, OXXO, MOL and am/pm. While at CBX, Bona was featured on the Discovery Channel's "Modern Marvels" series, and he has been a regular speaker at the annual NACS Show in the United States and Insight/NACS in Europe.

Faced with challenges like channel blurring, today's convenience retailers are under pressure to up their game, according to Bona, noting, "That's why we're so focused on elevated approaches to what we call 'foodvenience.' The old model is giving way to a more sophisticated one, and our clients are on the leading edge of the change."