It´s about Thyme

But this bigger is better approach may have run its course. Certainly in the Lansing area it faces serious challenges. Fresh Thyme Farmers Market, which opens Wednesday in East Lansing´s Trowbridge Plaza, is betting that its targeted approach to food is where the grocery business is heading. It´s similar to the strategy employed by Whole Foods, which will open in Meridian Township later this year. Foods for Living, also in Meridian Township, is well positioned in this market segment. And then there is Horrocks Market.

Fresh Thyme, which is in the building formerly occupied by Goodrich’s Shop-Rite, promotes its stores as a “vibrant and fun shopping experience.” Based on a tour of the new store last Friday, it´s not just advertising hype. The interior is bright and colorful, without the institutional, numbered aisles feel of Meijer or Kroger. The displays are inviting. The product mix is intriguing, though not always familiar.

The departments are traditional food store fare: fruits and vegetables, meats and seafood, bakery, deli, and beer and wine. There are large bulk food aisles — nuts, grains, dried fruits — a selection much like Foods for Living offers. And there is a sprawling “vitamin and body” department with 8,500 items, according to Fresh Thyme´s vice president of operations, Dave Bernier.

He was in East Lansing last week as crews were filling shelves and the new staff of about 100 was in training. The Trowbridge Plaza store is one of 17 that the company will open this year. It´s the first in Michigan and the 12th Fresh Thyme overall; others are planned for Kalamazoo, Ann Arbor, Grand Rapids and Detroit. Nationally, it plans to have 60 stores by 2019.

Much of the company´s growth is planned in the Midwest, where it will compete against Meijer, which according to news reports is a significant investor in Fresh Thyme and has representatives on the board.

Obviously, neither company seems concerned about competition. “We´re a produce-based business, organic and fresh,” Bernier said, adding that it´s what sets Fresh Thyme apart from its competitors. Of the Trowbridge Plaza store, he said, “You´ll see lot of local produce. We´ve got relationships with local growers so that we can emphasize seasonal Michigan products.” The produce department alone accounts for 30 percent of a Fresh Thyme store´s sales, and the inventory, which is hand-stacked, turns over three to four times a week, Bernier said.

The emphasis on local vendors is apparent as the shelves are being filled. End caps feature Michigan products. So does the beer and wine department. Bernier said the company has negotiated local agreements for its baked goods and commissary foods. It has a local sushi chef.

Fresh Thyme has a few months to establish itself before Whole Foods opens later this year. And it has a strategy that it finds to be successful, said Bernier: prices.

For example, this week´s promotions features organic Red Delicious apples at $1 a pound. By comparison, Meijer is promoting its apple lines at $1.28 a pound. In its Midwest markets, Fresh Thyme is selling organic pears at 88 cents a pound. It has 41-50 count shrimp at $4.99 at pound. Granted, these are the specials. Like most grocers, it features loss leaders to lure customers, but the pricing strategy does seem to set the company apart from Whole Foods, whose prices shoppers have complained are inordinately high.

This may be changing, at least slightly. A report by Bloomberg Business in January detailed Whole Foods´ response to sub-par earnings in 2014. It is being squeezed between large grocery companies selling free range meats, gluten free baked goods, soy products and the like and by smaller concerns like Fresh Thyme. To compete, it is now promoting sales and advertising, Bloomberg reported, but these accommodations don´t come naturally for a company built on high-margin sales.

Fresh Thyme, with its smaller stores and nimble pricing, knows its niche. The 30,000-square-foot East Lansing store will carry about 30,000 items. A larger traditional grocery store could have 200,000 items or more, Bernier said. Most Fresh Thyme stores are standardized and built to the company´s specifications. But the East Lansing is different, because it was fitted into the Goodrich’s shell.

It´s about the only similarity between the two. Fresh Thyme offers a very different shopping experience from Goodrich’s, which after 75 years in the grocery business declined to remain in the remodeled Trowbridge Plaza. Its longevity created a loyal customer base, but, to put it charitably, the store was dated and the prices were surprisingly high.

The store, which was operating with a 20-year-old lease, was paying about $3 per square foot, said Kevin McGraw, who has invested about $17 million to redevelop the plaza. Essentially, Goodrich’s was looking for a subsidy and balked at paying the region´s competitive lease rate, which the Lansing real estate company CBRE | Martin reports at between $8 and $25 a square foot.

There was some grumbling from Goodrich´s’ loyal customers, and maybe some will take their business elsewhere. But it won´t make any difference. Fresh Thyme in its East Lansing location is certain to find a ready market for its products and approach. It´s the store of the future, not the past.