Drakes Foodland Wayville in Adelaide has brought a host of new features and exclusive products to the market as shoppers demand a better retail experience.
Drakes Supermarkets has recently opened a brand- new concept store – Drakes Foodland Wayville. Assistant General Manager of Drakes Supermarkets John-Paul Drake was a driving force behind the new development, which occupies the site of an old furniture store and even incorporated an old façade into the new shopfront’s design.
“We identified the site four years ago and knew it was in a good part of town, and a different demographic to our usual Drakes,” Mr Drake told Retail World. “We felt we needed to build something along the same vein as other iconic Foodlands in the area and used these sites as inspiration
for our Wayville store. We also took elements of designs from supermarkets we visited around the world. The build itself took nine months once we were given the green light from the council.”
The store itself includes a variety of fresh features aimed at providing a more immersive shopping experience.
“We are the first supermarket in Australia to have kombucha on tap,” Mr Drake said. “We also have a self-serve fresh orange juicer, freshly made nut butters, including my personal favourite, white chocolate and macadamia butter.
We have fresh popcorn with more than seven flavours, as well as our restaurant offer – Nonna’s Pasta [pasta made fresh daily in-store that can be bought to eat straight away or taken home to cook] and The Little Kitchen, our in-store carvery complete with a make- your-own salad and wrap bar.”
According to Mr Drake, the new Wayville store has an exclusive wall of products not found in traditional supermarkets. This includes, “products from Beerenberg that are only otherwise available at the farm door; different blends of Maille mustards, including a Bleu Cheese Mustard that is a match made in heaven with our Angus Pure range of steaks, and exclusive products from South Australian icon Robern Menz – their Vegan FruChocs are a hit with customers. We also have a range of Lindt chocolate that is only available in gourmet and department stores.”
Mr Drake says adding Drakes Foodland Wayville to the growing Drakes network means staff at the store will have access to quality training and regular support. “As an RTO [registered training organisation], we provide our team with opportunities to complete nationally recognised certificates and diplomas in retail management and frontline management,” he said. “This is on top of our intensive training and induction program that we provide each team member when they commence employment with us. To date, we have had over 1,000 graduates from this program.”
Drakes also values and supports its suppliers, working closely with them to ensure it caters for all its customers’ needs. “Our specialist buying team at head office build and maintain fantastic relationships with the suppliers we deal with,” Mr Drake said. “We understand that without our suppliers, our business would not exist, and we work to form a fruitful relationship with all suppliers.”
With the store completely up and running, Drakes Wayville is set to become a community staple, with customer service remaining the key focus for the store.
“We will be offering our restaurant offer onto mobile delivery platforms, to make it even more convenient for customers,” Mr Drake said. “We want to concentrate on having the best and easiest breakfast, lunch and dinner offer in the area, serving up restaurant and café-quality food.
“We have hosted a full culinary ‘meat appreciation’ for 30 guests in our carpark, showcasing our fresh produce and educating our guests on how they can reproduce the meal at home. This was a very popular event, and we had a waiting list to attend. Our business is food, and we will continue to adapt to meet the needs of our customers.”