A convenience store with no fuel?
Our new Metro Market by Sprint Foods is not your typical convenience store—not by a long shot. The store, which opened in August in downtown Augusta, Ga., is an eye-catching hybrid of restaurant, convenience and grocery store.
This innovative concept offers both necessities for daily living and upscale dining for more of a restaurant atmosphere.
For us, Metro Market is very new. We are a chain with 15 stores, none of which had outdoor seating or sell wine by the glass—at least until now. This store for us is a new narrative, one we are planning to repeat in 2015 and something we believe sets a new standard for the convenience channel.
It started with a vision I had when I saw a concept in New York I wanted to replicate yet distinguish for Augusta—a concept that would attract downtown residents and workers, as well as local families and visitors.
So what this would evolve into is, in many ways, a restaurant/bistro that is also a c-store. To create the design, we contracted Paragon Solutions from Ft. Worth, Texas, and hired an industry veteran to lead the foodservice team and develop our menu.
And it’s not your typical c-store menu. Ours includes made-to-order sandwiches and salads, bistro flatbreads, fresh soups, “designer” hot dogs, oversized baked potatoes, sweet and savory crepes, smoothies, desserts and gourmet espresso beverages.
A large Metro-to-Go section houses gourmet grab-and-go sandwiches, salads and snacks for those on the run without time to order from our digital kiosks. The touch screens are visually dynamic and suggestive and allow customers to personalize their orders while providing us with greater management of inventory and waste.
While their food is being prepared, customers can check out the specialty beer and wine selection, which offers more than 60 bottles of wine and a large mix-and-match beer section with craft and local brews. Metro Market also serves 11 wines by the glass.
For customers looking to grab something hot, a case at the front of the stores is filled each afternoon with freshly made selections such as a popular crispy chicken sandwich, Angus beef and cheddar jalapeño burger, and a chicken fajita burrito. As for the morning rush, we roll out an ample variety of breakfast sandwiches, vegetarian egg-white wraps and breakfast scramblers. Adjacent is a gourmet pastry case offering Metro Market’s signature Salted Caramel Pretzel Brownie, along with freshly baked scones, muffins, cookies, cakes and other pastries.
A large self-serve area offers customers even more personalization with a coffee and cappuccino bar, freshly brewed teas, house-made ginger lemonade, flavored slushes and the first-ever Coca-Cola Freestyle machine in a convenience store. Customers can also create their own Metro Froyo with a frozen yogurt bar complete with all the toppings.
Prefer ice cream over frozen yogurt? Ice cream is also available in the Arctic Market freezer, along with other frozen foods and bagged ice. Bottled waters and sodas are nearby, as well as energy drinks, candy, packaged foods and other household necessities. The store also has its own ATM and sells lottery tickets.
CONTINUED: Our Look
Our Look
Metro Market is not your typical-looking c-store. The interior is modern with sleek lines; black, red and silver décor; and stainless-steel appliances. The exterior, with repurposed brick, delivers a vintage look you might find on a street in Paris.
The two-story, 11,000-square-foot building was completely gutted and renovated. It now houses the Sprint Foods Support Center on the top floor, with Metro Market on the ground level. Indoor and outdoor dining is available, as well as a rooftop patio. We also have a brand-new conference room that can be rented out for private functions, business meetings or special events. Free Wi-Fi is also provided on both floors.
My vision was the following: to create a place that offered a little something for everyone—workers, residents, families and visitors. We have worked hard to make sure we are meeting the needs of our various customer segments. We want to be a one-stop shop, whether customers need groceries for the house, drinks and snacks for a dinner party, a leisurely meal or a coffee on the way to work.
So far, the response from customers has been great; they’ve never seen anything like it in Augusta. Catering and delivery requests keep rolling in, and the upstairs conference room is already filling up for the year.
Sprint Foods has plans for growth, and we are looking for new locations that might benefit from having a Metro Market-style store, though future sites could include fuel.
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