For much of my career I have had the good fortune to work
with some really wonderful food retailers.
One in particular has been very generous with their brand. Working with this well-established local
brand in Madison Wisconsin, I started out being involved with store design and
environmental graphics. Very early on in
the working relationship Metcalfe’s have welcomed my colleagues and I as part
of their brand strategy team.
Just 2 weeks ago this brand was offered a unique opportunity…
to open a location in the Dane County Regional Airport in Madison, Wisconsin. The initiative is to bring the local
community to travelers. While airports typically
have national brands for food choices and often shopping choices as well, they
often lack the personal connection and are the perfect place to promote local
producers and retailers.
How food and travel may be a road back to discovery –
From a very small age travel has been exciting to me, the
chance to go somewhere else, to discover somewhere new! I love to be home but the desire to
experience somewhere far away is never gone.
I have been very lucky to have
visited many different places. With a
career in retail design, travel is not only necessary it is essential. As the frequent fly miles stack up, I have discovered
… “generica” and even generia-global.
Generic shopping and retail all over the world. On a recent trip to Dubai and everyone asked
me what I bought. They wanted to know
what I brought back from such a far away place.
My answer? Nothing. Don’t get me wrong, I have great memories and
I am ever grateful for the chance to see such an amazing place but – I can buy a t-shirt from the Gap at home –
why travel over 7,000 miles to buy one in Dubai? Dubai is home to largest shopping mall in the
WORLD and you could find most of the stores or brands much closer in New
York.
This is why the initiative that welcomed Metcalfe’s Market
to the Madison WI airport is so intriguing to me. Could this be the start of a trend to offer
airline travelers an opportunity for discovery?
To bring home some small item as a gift or to share with the family, from
a place far away (at least far enough to travel by plane)? This ancient idea drove adventurers to
explore the global in past centuries.
Tim & Kevin (the 2 brothers that own Metcalfe’s Market)
snapped up the opportunity and Studio H2G was fortunate enough to design
temporary environmental graphics for the space.
This quick temporary environment allowed them to start to connect to
travelers right away, while we develop a more engaging retail experience worthy
of the Metcalfe’s brand. They saw this
opportunity as a chance to promote their brand, their home city, their home
state and the local producers they work with every day. Did you know that Metcalfe’s is responsible
for the world’s largest Bratfest? www.bratfest.com This once a year event that started by Tim
& Kevin’s father as a customer appreciation over Memorial day weekend as
turned into a full weekend festival with entertainment and all the brats you
can eat! Now if you travel through
Madison’s airport, you will soon be able to buy the coolest Bratfest t-shirt –
one you can’t get at home!
Over the next few weeks Studio H2G will be working with
Metcalfe’s Market to develop their new environment at the airport and offer
travelers a chance to buy some of that awesome cheese Wisconsin is so famous
for! Check back here for further posts
about the process.
Julie Dugas
Principal | Partner