Clean And Green In Vermont

Midway Oil's first TenneyBrook prototype displays a fresh, eco-conscious personality — a natural transition into its future

A cathedral ceiling, a skylight and an abstract planet-like sculpture encircled by track lighting — this is the atypical store design that literally hangs over Midway Oil Corp.'s new convenience branding strategy, TenneyBrook, complete with a new banner.

But this arrangement overhead is just one elemental difference incorporated into the new store plan, which launched in late March last year.

The Rutland,Vt.-based oil company's 17th convenience store, located in the town of Castleton, was created with blended interior, exterior and merchandising concepts that purposefully portray contemporary, fresh and clean, according to Laura Merone-Walsh, co-owner of Midway Oil Corp., who, along with her partners — her father, Joe Merone and Frank Trombetta — wanted to take the company forward with a new convenience store image.

It's a logical design extension of the recent-year's focus on "more organic, good-for-you products," which is being incorporated into the company's c-stores, known, up until this point, as SmartShop (stores will slowly be changed over to TenneyBrook in name and concept), according to Merone-Walsh.

"Healthy is not the norm in the convenience store channel, and so we wanted to offset our concept as being different," she told Convenience Store News. "We want to be a convenient destination where moms, dads and road warriors can get healthier alternatives."

In addition to its in-store Dunkin' Donuts franchise — the store's fresh food representation with "DD SMART" items that include egg whites, turkey, multi-grain bagels and reduced fat muffins — TenneyBrook carries organic nuts, granolas, juices, teas and other beverages, as well as other snacks, such as soy chips.

BREAKING DOWN THE DESIGN

It's new "clean and green" design elements include "anti-clutter merchandising; natural light reflection and concentration; and colors that also bring the outside in.

Merone-Walsh was careful not to incorporate the typical c-store advertising/merchandising " noise " at TenneyBrook. "I don't like clutter," she said.

The store does not subscribe to any in-store signage (save for segregated features such as "Dunkin' Donuts" and the beer cave's Cavern). Additionally, the seven merchandising gondolas are low-profile, meaning they are four feet in height to provide visibility across the entire store. Customers can virtually see all of the store's merchandise from wherever they stand in the store.

Also, dedicated displays of categories like candy, salty snacks and better-for-you alternatives are housed neatly and cleanly in these contemporary custom display gondolas made of wood and black veneer inserts (to highlight the merchandise) and topped with illuminated light boxes as centerpieces.

"Many convenience stores are so full of merchandise and advertisements for the same merchandise that it becomes so busy and cluttered and nothing stands out in the end," said John Rahill, partner with Black River Design, the firm that helped create the TenneyBrook look. "We felt it was important to reduce the intensity of advertisements, but also to provide an element that identified the TenneyBrook stores. The existing stores vary in style, shape and size, but this would be a common element that one would see immediately upon entering."

The ceiling-suspended, six-foot round "sculpture," as Merone-Walsh refers to it, brings in the "wow" factor overhead. "How many c-stores have a work of art in their stores?" she asked.

But this ceiling art also serves a functional purpose. Because of the skylight and the sphere's coppery hue, "it reflects light beautifully that bounces off the windows and walls," she explained. This is the case both in the daytime with the natural light overhead, as well as at night with the store's interior lighting.

Natural light is also brought in through full glass walls, and "because there's no obstruction with signage, customers can see the whole inside of the store from the parking lot," said Merone-Walsh. This allows TenneyBrook to naturally advertise brands and products.

"We let the merchandise sell itself," she said.

Additionally, greens and browns are the common color themes dispersed throughout TenneyBrook. The idea was that varying shades of green, with copper and wood accents, would create warmth in both the winter and summer and provide a distinctive color scheme for a Vermont convenience store, according to Black River Design.

"Minimal bright green highlights bring vibrancy and life to the façade and add pop during the winter months when green is missing from the landscape," said Rahill.

Greens and browns were even represented by the landscaping river rock stone, used in place of grass around the building perimeter. "It not only reflects the store colors, but it's sharp-looking and easier to maintain," said Merone-Walsh.

Utilizing energy efficiencies and natural local resources are also part of the TenneyBrook prototype. "We're definitely trying to become a greener company and develop in this way," Merone-Walsh said, mentioning the use of low-water fixtures, heating and lighting energy-saving initiatives, as well as bringing in fixtures and flooring from local Vermont companies.

Rahill cited the use of energy-efficient halide and T5 lighting in-store and HID lighting in freezers. Energy-efficient cooler doors (no electric heat elements to defrost the doors) are employed in TenneyBrook,too.

In the matter of materials, "local slate, concrete and hardwood are used as finishes," he said. "The polished concrete floor is a very 'green' floor, using local materials for the aggregate and requiring no adhesives or VOC-releasing materials."

WORK IN PROGRESS

Merone-Walsh calls this first TenneyBrook prototype a "work in progress to build from."

So far, another TenneyBrook store is slated to be completed in 2011 in Poultney, Vt.

Bottom Line

• TenneyBrook's prototype design is an extension of its healthier focus.
• There is minimal signage in-store.
• It will move forward with consistency in clean merchandising, natural light and green color scheme.