With over 40,000 different products on offer across its UK stores, operating 7 days a week including Bank Holidays, consistent quality and service is paramount.
As Colin Jervis of JEL Electrical, contractors for Makro explains, “Makro offers its customers a bigger buying experience. With so many products on display, however, the challenge is to create an in-store design which allows both specific individual areas to stand out but one which also brings all these elements together and brings energy savings, which has also been an aim of the lighting project. The Philips MAXOS Lightline system has allowed us to do just that!”
Indeed, the Philips MAXOS system is ideally suited for large scale lighting installations such as Makro bringing with it both high performance, efficiency and high design to the space.
The modularity of MAXOS allows superb flexibility allowing the most effective lighting design solution to be created for the layout’s specific requirements.
Luminaires can be placed at fixed or variable intervals for optimal illumination of the merchandise on display and runs of trunking can be connected together at different angles complementing the most complex of floor plans. Meeting the design challenge, therefore, was no problem for this adaptable light line system.
In the store’s electrical goods department, the reflectivity of the TV screens also had to be considered.
The exceptional optics of the luminaire housed in MAXOS more than adequately coped with this requirement providing excellent coverage for the rest of this sales area whilst eliminating any spill light which might have occurred on the TV screens.
In the general food sales section a specially designed luminaire was installed into existing shelving which illuminated the opposite storage area without creating irritating glare for customers as they browse.
Within the chilled food display area, IP64 modules with integral reflectors were positioned within sealed units making them easy to clean. At the same time the sealed units provided protection for the fluorescent lamps offering a warm ambient temperature to ensure optimum performance.
In this way differentiation within the various departments has been achieved whilst at the same time creating a unified look overall.
A further benefit for retailers is that, as store layouts change, so too can the lighting configuration and, importantly, this can be achieved without incurring any major expense. It is also to be noted the speed in which MAXOS can be installed or reconfigured thanks to its clearly definable components and simple click together assembly.
With MAKRO stores operating almost every day of the year with long opening hours, restrictions to business need to be kept to an absolute minimum reducing any negative impact to profits.
The new installation has therefore brought about benefits in terms of performance and store image.
As Darren Bown, manager of Makro in Manchester sums up, “The effect that the new lighting scheme has had on customers has been unexpected. They have been amazed by all the new products on display. In actual fact we haven’t increased our range but it just looks as if we have! The new lighting makes everything easier to identify which benefits both our customers and our sales staff – I expect sales to really take off!”
