fbpx

The Hazi Hinam Supermarket Branch in Petach Tikva

Taking the shopping experience and the level customer comfort to new heights: the design of the Hazi Hinam supermarket chain’s new Petach Tikva branch.

  • Al Ha'madaf magazine
  • Mar. 2011
  • Lior Koren
The snack categoryThis is always the section that receives the most investment, and here we chose a space theme and incorporated the leading brands in the category.

This branch has had more thought and resources invested in it (per meter) than in any other supermarket in Israel.

The store’s retail area is about 1500 m2 (16,146 ft2) and was formerly a branch of the Mega supermarket chain, which was purchased in 2009 by Zaki Shalom and Moti Cooper-Lee, Hazi Hinam’s owners.

You might think that a supermarket is a supermarket – if the only thing that changes is the owner, why not open the location for business immediately? The reason: Hazi Hinam is different from other supermarket chains.

After the new owners analyzed the space, including the warehouses, parking lot, the retail space, equipment quality, the lighting, accessibility and more, they decided it would be better to gut the space and start over, even if this meant months of planning and 18 months of renovations and construction. In total, two years would pass between the store’s acquisition and its actual re-opening.

Hygiene categoryUses floral motifs for a fresh and natural look.

Even though Hazi Hinam has only opened mega-branches in recent years, it also has successful small branches in Rishon Le’Zion and Holon. The experience the chain accumulated from the small branches, combined with the capacity to provide an enjoyable and unique shopping experience like at the big stores, was implemented in the Petach Tikva branch. Everything in the other branches was invested in this new branch, including meticulous design, a large number of checkout lines, accessible and plentiful parking, a large staff and, of course, strict adherence to product quality, particularly in the produce section and at the meat counter, where many other supermarket chains fail.

The checkout areaNew design concept for the "end of the journey", trying to make it look inviting and promising.

Despite the fact that this is a neighborhood branch and the only one in the area, the chain’s policy is to not take the customer for granted. Every aspect of the shopping experience is addressed: tasteful covered parking, access from the store to the parking lot, the size of the aisles, the especially large number of employees at the checkout area and, of course, the store’s design and the display fixtures give the feeling that the retail space has been designed with the shopper in mind, creating a sense of trust.

The chocolate categoryWe've created a middle ages European kingly feast atmosphere ,of that grownups and children would both enjoy.

Koren Visual Solutions was responsible for design, planning and implementation of the retail area and worked in partnership with Mr. Moshe Shimoni, Hazi Hinam’s manager responsible for the branch’s renovation.

Throughout the process, it became clear Hazi Hinam’s success is due to the attention given to every detail and the supportive environment it provides.

The planning and design challenges were to overcome store’s relatively limited size compared with the shopping experience, product range and customer convenience that were defined as our goals.

A great deal of thought went into the planogram, in the optimal use of the retail space, the design of the customer path, in the placement of products and planning display areas, and of course in formulating the shopping experience. The concept used in a different branch was applied here as well – uniformity in the general shelving system and display fixtures, while creating design differences between product categories and letting each section tell its “story” according to the products and creating  the appropriate atmosphere and customer’s shopping experience.

Koren created a project team of architects, planners, industrial designers, graphic designers and implementation crew of sculptors, painters, carpenters and metalworkers, electricians and an installation crew – so as to meet the chain’s high retail standards set.

The neighborhood’s residents waited a long time and often peered through the window to see what was happening. In the end, they got an incomparable new supermarket!