PG Store Design Spotlight: Market Street

Honorable Mention, Best Overall Design (Over 50,000 Square Feet)

Market Street

Owner: United Supermarkets LLC

Neighborhood: Lubbock, Texas

Designer: Shook Kelley

PG’s Favorite Design Element: Shook Kelley created a new prototype for Market Street, an 11-store grocery chain owned by United Supermarkets, LLC, in Lubbock, Texas. The new concept store is a key element of a strategic re-branding project by the Los Angeles-based design firm that has helped United articulate the value, meaning, ethos and spirit of the west Texas regional retailer, which includes a redesigned logo and graphic identity.

Most Progressive Features

Aiming to create a destination for shoppers, the key goals of the project revolved around creating an immersive sensory experience, inclusive of visual communication layers, physical architecture, internal culture and store layout and design configurations. The over-arching strategy began with transforming the original store layout to an integrated, two-part structure consisting of a grocery marketplace and prepared foods “street.”

The “Basketweave” redefines Market Street’s center store as a branded zone that feels more crafted and personal while also communicating a value message of natural simplicity. Compared to the traditional soffit and department signage formula, the Basketweave is a kind of “anti-decor” package that breaks the rules of how grocery store decor is supposed to work – structural features float at the shopper’s sightline, just above the gondolas in most places in center store.

Meanwhile, the “Street” uses a variety of elements, including layout, signage and materiality, to help guide shoppers and diners through perishable and prepared foods departments. It promotes behaviors similar to window shopping on a familiar city street. Signage here was inspired by Texas ranches, with modernized elements and just a touch of upscale elegance. More detailed messages tell stories here, while classic illustrations simply communicate insights about the world of food.

Hot Trends

Throughout the store, materiality and texture play a critical role in defining the shopping experience. Rustic iron work, wooden trellises and real stone pillars help tell the Market Street story. These material elements communicate the meaning of authentic Texas, including materials and textures sourced from genuine West Texas ranches.