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Introducing Bentley's: Local business offers a new kind of market.(Fresno Bee (CA) (KRT) Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) Oct. 4--A new type of grocery experience is about to launch in north Fresno. If the owners' vision turns into reality, Bentley's Fresh Market and Bentley's Bistro will offer products and services unseen in other supermarkets in the central San Joaquin Valley. Customers will be able to shop and pay for groceries online, then have them delivered. Or they can head to the store for curbside pickup, and staffers will bring the bagged items to their cars. Shoppers also will be able to enter their food preferences into Bentley's Web site, www.bentleysfinefoods.com, and it will display recipes and shopping lists tailored to their tastes. The Web site even limits recipes according to customers' kitchen equipment. "The store caters to young mothers with kids," says Tom Pistacchio, a partner in Bentley's and an owner of Central California Kenworth. He expects the store to open mid-October at the River View Shopping Center at Friant and North Fort Washington roads. In addition, the store and bistro will aim to have lots of foods that are unusual, such as langoustines from England or rashers from Ireland, says Gerald Sullivan, executive chef of Bentley's Bistro. Customers won't find Smirnoff vodka here, says François Cinq-Mars, Bentley's sommelier. Instead, they'll see brands such as Jean-Marc XO or V. Despite the uncommon selection, Bentley's still is a supermarket, so customers will be able to pick up paper towels, toilet paper and other staples, says Delores Pistacchio, Tom Pistacchio's wife and business partner. All of the typical areas of a supermarket -- the deli, bakery, produce section, meat and fish counters, wine and liquor aisles -- will be present. Freshly prepared foods, such as squeezed citrus juices, pizzas, sushi and Italian braciole round out the offerings. So do the bistro's breakfasts, lunches and wine tastings. There's also an outdoor patio with stands of flowers and fresh, local produce. Think it sounds a bit like Whole Foods Market? Think again. First of all, it's owned by a family -- with no grocery experience. The Pistacchios are partners in the business with their children and their spouses, Sean and Heather McGrath and Elisa and Rick Hutcheson. They crafted the idea for Bentley's from shopping in stores such as Bristol Farms, Gelson's, Mollie Stone's Markets and Dean & Deluca. "We're just focusing on service," Sean McGrath says. If the concept catches on, expect to see more of Bentley's. The family already is looking for a site in Clovis. "If it's accepted and it works out well, we do plan to open more," says Tom Pistacchio, who plans to tweak Bentley's services for at least six months before trying to open more stores. "The Valley is the target market," Rick Hutcheson says. "We want to stay in the Valley. The concept is unique here." The idea behind Bentley's may be distinct in the Valley, but can the partners make it work? The grocery business is particularly cutthroat, with razor-thin margins. Bentley's will compete with specialty and traditional supermarkets, ethnic stores, warehouses such as Costco and many other retailers. "We're seeing a number of retailers that haven't traditionally sold food moving into food," says consultant Kyra Cavanaugh, of Willard Bishop, a Barrington, Ill., company that studies the food industry. "They see it as a strategy to build traffic. What does that mean? It means that consumers are just about willing to shop anywhere" for food. "Shopper behavior has changed dramatically," Cavanaugh adds. "The gloves are off. All the walls have been removed in consumers' minds between these different formats." In Fresno, there is lots of competition between food retailers, says Bill Rice, a marketing professor at California State University, Fresno. "I don't see any store in Fresno running to peak capacity," Rice says. "When you don't have more than three to four cash registers open, you have unused capacity." Still, "Bentley's is exactly the thing I was waiting for," he says. After the arrival of restaurants such as The Cheesecake Factory and Claim Jumper, Rice was expecting a "Gelson's-type store to come in." He wonders whether the target market of mothers in upscale neighborhoods might be too small to support Bentley's. "My concern is the overlap with Whole Foods," Rice says. "Bentley's is going to take a part of that market niche. ... I don't know if we have enough people with disposable income with that kind of wine-and-cheese savvy." Compared to Gelson's North Hollywood location, which has a large population with disposable income, Bentley's "has some real definite constraints on population and income levels," Rice says. In the end, Bentley's success will depend not only on unusual offerings and great service, but also on price. Trader Joe's, another specialty supermarket, "is probably the busiest place I've been in Fresno," Rice says. Quirky offerings and low prices keep folks coming through the doors. Whole Foods, on the other hand, is unique but has high prices -- and that keeps some shoppers away. Bentley's owners expect customers to find a mix of prices in their store. "It depends on the shopping habits of the person," says Rick Hutcheson, one of Bentley's partners. "Those items you find at the regular stores, we would not charge more for those. But if it's something you can't find anywhere else, obviously we have to charge for it." And if the owners are nimble enough to adapt to their customers' needs, Bentley's services might overcome some shopper resistance to higher prices -- and give the company an edge over corporately owned stores in Fresno. Bentley's "is looking at it from a consumer perspective," Cavanaugh says. "A lot of local operators are doing really innovative things. If you are sitting in the office and managing markets remotely, you may miss the local nuances." "You can still win a shopper's loyalty," Cavanaugh adds. "It sounds like different aspects of their business strategy is to build relevance and an emotional connection with consumers. And that's a key strategy for attracting and keeping consumers." The reporter can be reached at [email protected] or (559) 441-6365. Copyright (c) 2006, The Fresno Bee, Calif. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News. For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. |