In light of IGA’s new direction to compete with national and international retail players, Romeo’s IGA has employed Sydney-based design studio, loopcreative, to completely overhaul their 2,000sqm Summer Hill store.
In keeping with the IGA way, the brief was to cater for what local shoppers wanted, while providing a heightened customer experience in the style of a fresh food market. The result is a sleek, European-style food hall complete with Cheese Room, Butchery with dry ageing room, Delicatessen, Bakery, Fish Monger and Fresh Produce Marketplace that really offers something for every food lover. An authentic Italian three-wheeler Apelino displaying fresh flowers and herbs in the entry completes the look.
Shoppers just wanting a quick grab and go option for basic grocery items have also been considered with newly installed displays providing convenience for those in a rush, and with the increasing competition from local and international supermarket giants, promoting price point was also imperative.
Joseph Romeo, owner of Romeo’s IGA, explains: “With retail giant Amazon opening its first store in Australia later this month, we now have more competition than ever within the crowded retail space. Our commitment to brand new store design, fresh produce, local service and price matching is how we aim to keep our customers happy and coming back time and again.”
Further design details within the Summer Hill store include flickering fluro lights being replaced with dramatic, moody lighting solutions and the majority of the ceiling being made up of a combination of Supawood and SupaSlat celling panels in various geometric combinations. Flooring is a combination of cobble-stone printed vinyl and timber to enhance a traditional rustic outdoor market feel.
Tiles in various colours have been used to clad selected food counters to emphasise their specific food offering and provide a point of difference, such as the dark red lighting and black tiles in the Butchery’s dry ageing room. A new design identity has also been created for each in-store category to easily highlight what’s available in every aisle.
The biggest challenge for the team at loopcreative wasn’t the design however, but rebuilding the supermarket over 12 weeks while it remained open to the general public. Rod Faucheux, director of loopcreative, explains: “With the 2,000sqm supermarket needing to remain open during the construction phase, the challenge was to build within a tight and efficient program, and often at night. This meant a pre-fabrication of many items to ensure that the time on site was kept to a minimum.”
Romeo’s Summer Hill is the second project design for the retail group by loopcreative following the successful completion of their Paddington store in March 2017. Works are also currently underway for a third site at Greenwood Plaza in North Sydney, due to be completed in August 2017.
loopcreative is a Sydney-based design studio with a passion for hospitality, retail and installation projects, creating vivid consumer experiences that enhance people’s lives at multiple points of interaction through interiors, graphics and 3D visualisation. Recent projects in Sydney have included Alquema in the QVB; aMBUSH Gallery at Central Park; Chur Burger at Sydney Airport; KOI Dessert Bar Chippendale and Ryde and SAL Deli at Chifley Plaza.
