My first impression when I entered Pan-Oston's Utopia Across America Mobile Innovation Center in the parking lot of RoNetco ShopRite in Byram Township, N.J., was that it had a lot more inside than I originally thought.

Indeed, those retailers who can't make it to any retail technology trade events would do well to have the bus come and visit. Not only does it showcase technology from Pan-Oston's five key partners, but it also exhibits useful technologies that the Bowling Green, Ky.-based company doesn't sell, but that it views as best in class for the industry. "We want to bring the retailers those technologies we feel are the best in the business, even if we don't sell them ourselves," Todd Stokes, director of business development at Pan-Oston, told visitors from seven-store RoNetco ShopRite, including D.J. Romano, owner; Hank Ramberger, general manager; and several of the company's store managers.

The RoNetco crew was surprised by the number of solutions on the bus, and happy to see LaneHawk as one of the best-in-class technologies – Wakefern Food Corp., the Keasbey, N.J.-based retail co-op to which ShopRite operators belong, is a customer of Evolution Robotics Retail (ERR), and every RoNetco store has seen great results from using the vendor's LaneHawk Bottom of the Basket loss prevention system.

On this leg of the tour, Jeff Robinson, the Mobile Innovation Center's operator, and I weren't the only ones with a camera, as the folks from RoNetco took many pictures of the solutions they found interesting.

For me, this leg of the tour was an opportunity to meet Hank and D.J. in person. I had just interviewed them the week prior for a feature about their recent front end redesign, which just happens to be the cover story in this issue.

Following the RoNetco visit, we made our way to Manahawkin, N.J., where the folks from Perlmart ShopRite came on board, among them Richard Borkowski, store systems supervisor; Richard Lima, director of risk management; and Dave Pelletier, grocery manager. While they didn't have a camera with them, they certainly took a lot of notes, and were particularly interested in the Corporate Safe Services cash control system as a way to reduce labor from counting tills and automating cash control. They were also interested in a simple solution to a common problem: a fixture designed to prevent reusable shopping bags from collapsing while being filled.

The main technology partners showcased on the bus include MEI, a provider of cash-handling automation; IT Retail, a POS system with a true SQL-based, plug-and-play platform; Corporate Safe Specialists (CSS), with solutions developed to help retailers control cash from the front of the store all the way to the bank, reducing till shortages; ERR, which has developed a system that reduces sweethearting and front end loss; Clarity Consulting, a provider of software programming solutions; and Cost Seg Associates (CSA), a provider of cost segregation studies, helping grocers find funds to reinvest into their businesses.

All of the wonderful technology notwithstanding, what I found to be the greatest advantage to the bus visits was the discussion that took place between the retailers and the Pan-Oston folks inside. While the official "tour" of the technology solutions took from 15 to 20 minutes, it was during the following dialogue that strategies and solutions were brainstormed, and ideas thrown around in a productive way, so that those retailers who got on the bus, even if they had no intention of deploying the various technology and fixture solutions, still reaped tremendous benefits from the visit.

For more information on tour stops and dates, call 800-569-5742.