You can put that grocery list away because you won't find items like pasta, eggs, or fruit at this store. Superette's play on your local neighborhood corner store is a lighthearted yet thoughtful approach to destigmatizing the cannabis shopping experience. Their curated selection of cannabis products and accessories is elevated by the unexpectedly everyday touches, designed to stimulate the senses and make for an easygoing, approachable environment.
The new location in Toronto's lively Summerhill neighborhood is their second store, designed to further their brand exposure outside the Ottawa market. Their first location was designed by a Superette team who have extensive retail expertise. To take their concept to the next level for the second location, they turned to Bergmeyer to elevate the overall customer journey.
The Design Process
We love opportunities to strengthen a brand and the challenges that accompany them. And for this category of business, that design challenge begins before one even enters the store. Due to regulations, sight-lines into Cannabis dispensaries must typically block views to the interior. However, we felt it was important for the brand to project its personality in a more meaningful way beyond the standard concealing window graphics. The team created an entry experience merchandised with quirky faux "Superette" brand products to achieve this objective. Blocking direct views into the store, this colorful twist on corner store displays also acts as a playfully branded moment.
Rounding the corner of the "brand" wall, the customer enters the main store. It's here that one encounters one of the main features of the store design. The "flower" wall is a custom display case designed to be a cut flower cooler. One of several innovative merchandising touchpoints along the way, the brightly colored and lushly merchandised flower wall is where the marijuana samples are displayed. Customers can smell the various strains available for sale through votives integrated with the faux flowers, making for a genuine discovery moment of aromatic exploration.
Bergmeyer, in collaboration with the Superette design team, worked to refine these touchpoints and enhance the customer's experience. Baskets at the entrance offer customers a color choice indicating the degree of help needed. One can also take a seat at the bar to receive guidance from a budtender. From the vintage wall cigarette dispensers repurposed as interactive ordering kiosks to the old-school grocery shelving displaying a wide assortment of accessories, the overall feel is fun, welcoming, and refreshingly unique in this highly competitive category of retail. Every step engages the shopper in a wholly Superette kind of way. And that's all about having a good time.
Awards
- IIDA New England's Design Awards Winner "Hospitality - Retail/Restaurant" https://www.iidane.org/assets/DA%202021_Event%20Presentation_Winners.pdf
- Dezeen Awards Long list Nominee https://www.dezeen.com/awards/2021/longlists/superette/
- VMSD's IVC 2021 Awards "First Place - Food/Consumables" https://vmsd.com/2021-ivc-first-place-superette-food-and-beverages-consumables/
Since its founding in 1975, Bergmeyer has consistently pushed the boundaries of traditional design thinking, evolving from an architecture and interiors firm to become an omni-disciplinary design collaborative made up of architects, interior designers, graphic designers, and brand strategists that create transformative experiences across market boundaries. ?Inspired through partnership, thoughtfully creative; driven by curiosity and boldness to fulfill the potential of each relationship; Bergmeyer is implicitly trusting of its people and process, celebrating a culture of inclusion and connection to a shared purpose.
Bergmeyer’s approach to design is empowering and ego-free, forming proactive partnerships with its clients and project teams to create a shared sense of ownership throughout the entire creative process.?Unlike traditional multidisciplinary practices that pass work between silos, Bergmeyer integrates teams' thinking around everything from sustainability to architecture to branding to interior design as one seamless co-creation process. This process brings external subject matter experts, stakeholders, client teams, and the communities they serve directly into the design process as integral members of the collaborative team.
Bergmeyer designs for its clients’ clients, the people whose lives and experiences are enhanced by its work. Challenging its teams to focus first on understanding the end user - the customers, students, employees, visitors, and residents - while delivering on its clients’ vision and return on investment.?Bergmeyer has offices in Boston, Los Angeles, and Columbus.?
Celebrating Bergmeyer's 50th anniversary in 2025, this milestone achievement is further enriched by Bergmeyer's recent certification as a B Corporation, joining a global movement of companies using business as a force for good.
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