Progressive Grocer Hops on Pan-Oston's Utopia Across America Tour Bus

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 cannot 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 Pan-Oston 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," Pan-Oston dir. of business development told  the visitors from seven-store Ronectco ShopRite, which included owner D.J. Romano, general manager Hank Ramberger, and several of the company's store managers.

The Ronetco crew was surprised by the amount of solutions on the bus, and happy to see LaneHawk on the bus as one of the "best in class" technologies -- Wakefern is a customer of Lanehawk, and every Ronetco store has seen great results from using the Bottom of the Basket loss prevention system.

On this leg of the tour, me and Jeff Robinson -- the Mobile Innovation Center's operator -- were not the only ones with a camera, and the folks from Ronetco took many pictures of the solutions they found interesting, such as the wireless paging system and special communication system that allows shoppers with hearing aids to clearly hear cashiers amid the background noise of the supermarket.

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. You'll see this article soon -- it's the cover story of our September PG Independent!

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, dir. 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 systems as a way to reduce labor from counting tills and automating the cash control. They were also interested in a simple solution to a very common problem -- a fixture that was 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 built a true SQL based, plug and play platform; Corporate Safe Services (CSS), with solutions developed to help retailers control cash from the front of the store all the way to the bank, reducing till shortages; Evolution Robotics Retail (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), providers of cost segregation studies, helping grocers find funds to reinvest into their businesses.

Other solutions included the Happy Bell Systems wireless paging system, which could be used as a paging system for shoppers who need help in the aisle, or aqs a paging system for managers to alert associates; Handstand Solutions Group, which provides customer communications solutions for the front end, such as custom-printed anti-microbial belt wraps; Vitality floor mats, which prevent fatigue for cashiers who are on their feet all day; and Shop Hear, which makes the communications systems to help cashiers communicate with those who use hearing aids.

All of the wonderful technology notwithstanding, what I found from my observations to be the greatest benefit of 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 the dialogue following where strategies and solutions were brainstormed, and ideas thrown around in a very productive way, so that those retailers visited, even if they had no intention of deploying the various technology and fixture solutions, still reaped tremendous benefits from the visit.

Click here to see a photo gallery of my visit.

For more information on tour stops and dates, see our Tour Dates page. To schedule a visit from one of the mobile Innovation Centers, call 800-569-5742 or click here.