Reviving History: Simply Fresh by McCaffrey's

Juan Romero's Award-Winning Grocery Store Design in a Restored 1928 Building

McCaffrey's Food Markets introduced their newest concept, Simply Fresh, in a restored 1928 industrial deco building. Originally a Ford dealership, the 13,500 square foot urban gourmet store now showcases a masterful merchandising program within a dynamic shopping experience. The design highlights the building's historic charm, original structure, and classic details, such as exposed steel trusses, restored wood ceilings, rugged brick, and polished concrete.

The design process involved a four-step approach. The first step involved a strategic assessment to understand the goals, operational, and developmental issues. The second step, concept exploration, involved brand and sensory elements, establishing positioning, attitude, and personality in visual terms. The third step, preliminary design, created the actual design and framework to communicate the brand to customers. The final step, design development, finalized the environment, including an in-depth approach to execution and implementation.

One of the unique features of Simply Fresh is its layout, designed for shopper flow. It leads shoppers through a sequence of departments, allowing them to discover gourmet treasures and delights. The layout helps customers explore and connect with the brand and is optimized for operational efficiency.

Designing within a historical building presented some challenges. Adapting elements of a grocery store to meet historical society demands, transforming a historic Ford dealership into a place for preparing and selling foods, and rehabilitating materials both on the interior and exterior to maintain the building's historic charm were among the most challenging aspects of the design.

Despite the challenges, the design was successful and was awarded the Silver A' Interior Space, Retail and Exhibition Design Award in 2017. The award recognizes top-of-the-line, creative, and professionally remarkable designs that illustrate outstanding expertise and innovation. These designs, admired for their strong technical characteristics and splendid artistic skill, showcase a remarkable level of excellence and introduce positive feelings, amazement, and wonder.

In conclusion, Simply Fresh by McCaffrey's, designed by Juan Romero, is a testament to the power of adaptive reuse in architecture. It not only provides a unique shopping experience but also preserves a piece of history, demonstrating that design can be both functional and respectful to its context.