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Look for 19 new Sweetbays in Pinellas

One converted Kash n' Karry opens today; the remaining 18 will evolve in the next year, offering far more variety and a gourmet cachet.

By PAUL SWIDER
Published July 19, 2006

ST. PETERSBURG - After two new stores started the shift, this week marks the beginning of the transformation of Kash n' Karrys into Sweetbays in Pinellas County.

With today's opening of the converted store at 34th Avenue N and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Street, the county's remaining 18 Kash n' Karrys will become Sweetbays in the next year. Seven of those stores will convert this year; the others will make the transformation by early next year.

"We want to be a nice, good shopping experience," said Nicole LeBeau, spokeswoman for Sweetbay, reborn of the 50-year-old Kash n' Karry. "(Customers) have told us they don't have that right now."

The Kash n' Karry to Sweetbay transition began almost two years ago with a newly built store in Seminole. A year later, the chain opened another new store in Midtown.

LeBeau said the idea was to revitalize Kash n' Karry's assets. The chain stores were stuck between finer shopping like Publix and discount shopping like that at Wal-Mart. She said that rather than close the stores or rebrand Kash n' Karry, the parent company, Delhaize Group of Belgium, chose to reinvent the stores as a cost-competitive option with a nicer finish, wider variety of products and something of a gourmet appeal.

"Most people dread going to the grocery store," LeBeau said. "We want people to be happy in the store and find the things they want with ease. We want to give them a vibrant shopping experience.

"It really is a transformation from the inside out."

The stores will get new colors inside and out, a new arrangement of the interior, and vast additions to products Kash n' Karry shoppers are used to.

The company is not making all the old stores the same, said Kenny Eichorn, retail projects and capital expenditure manager. There are as many as a dozen different looks and four levels of transformation: flagship, major, minor and decor. Eichorn said the degree of remake is not a reflection of the chain's opinion of the market but just a maximization of existing assets.

Each store's transition takes between 20 and 40 weeks, Eichorn said, as the store is basically rebuilt from the inside out while still operating. The transitions are complicated and do cause some inconvenience, but Eichorn said conversions in other markets have been well received once they are complete. Kash n' Karry has 109 stores in West Central Florida; 48 have converted to Sweetbay.

The Pinellas stores are in varying degrees of transition. The 34th Avenue store is a "major" transformation, involving new services at the meat and seafood counters as well as an increase in overall product diversity. The Kenneth City store, scheduled to open in August, will be a flagship store. The store at 22nd Avenue N and U.S. 19 will be a minor transformation. The store on Blind Pass Road in St. Pete Beach will get a simpler "decor" change, with a service meat department added. Eichorn said the different levels are only slight variations.

Customers will see differences when they visit changed stores, but as many or more changes occur on the back end, Eichorn said. Not only are the stores receiving new configurations for storage of a broader array of goods and some new refrigeration equipment, but automated monitoring systems mean the Tampa main office can remotely check on the operation of all facilities' equipment.

"We want to allow our folks in the store to take care of the customer," Eichorn said.

Employees are being given new training and a new orientation of outgoing customer service, Le- Beau said. Some of this new customer service is a necessity as the stores offer a significantly greater variety.

"We had 200 natural and organic products before," LeBeau said. "Now we have more than 3,000. That's why we have to change the aisles around. We have 200 different cheeses now."

Among the new offerings are Hannaford products, a house brand named for a Northeastern grocery chain that is another Delhaize property.

Sweetbay is also introducing On the Go Bistro, restaurant-quality private label frozen prepared foods. The chain's hot, fresh prepared meals, like ribs or chicken, are being more carefully and appetizingly displayed, LeBeau said.

The 34th Avenue store has been months in the making. Although the store never closed, today it will carry the Sweetbay label. The grand opening, however, is Saturday, when, LeBeau said, there will be dozens of samples, as well as free pineapples and Sweetbay cutting boards for the first 500 customers.

Paul Swider can be reached at 892-2271 or pswider@sptimes.com.

[Last modified July 18, 2006, 20:23:30]