Lively Festival of Fresh Food Awaits Shoppers At New Flagship Carnival Super Market
Non-Perishable Goods Also Tailored to Fit Neighborhood's NeedsDALLAS (Aug. 30, 2006) — Take a ground-breaking supermarket fanatically devoted to the freshest of everything edible, sprinkle liberally with salsa muy picante, add a dash of down home fixins', and there you are: the multi-ethnic flagship Carnival Super Market opening in southwest Oak Cliff in Dallas.
"The best grocery value takes on a distinctly Latino flavor in this new type of Carnival," said Michael D. Byars, chief executive officer for Carnival Supermarkets of Coppell, Texas. "While this exciting Carnival flagship store makes an unprecedented effort to appeal to Hispanics consumers, it is a fun store for everyone who likes to eat and loves fresh food."
The 56,000-square-foot supermarket, located at 3434 W. Illinois Ave. just west of Westmoreland Road, is the most modern, state-of-the art grocery store in any U.S. city. As shoppers enter, to the right they find a "village square" with 14 oak picnic tables under festive lighting where they can sit and eat lunch (the menu changes daily), breakfast, or dinner. The fresh ingredients are prepared from scratch by cooks under the direction of a Le Cordon Bleu chef.
"Our customers told us they want fresh food, they want authentic Mexican food—not Tex-Mex—and they want it early and throughout the day," Byars said. "That is what we are delivering in this store."
Around that brightly lit dining space are fresh food departments with unique "storefronts" delineated by contrasting bold colors and lively graphics. A leaping fish, for example, signifies pescaderia (fresh fish), while a longhorn steer shows where the carniceria (fresh meat) is located.
Signage is in both English and Spanish.
"Our customers told us they are comfortable with bilingual signage," Byars said. "In fact, some say they use the signs to help them learn English."
The tortilleria, which makes fresh tortillas from 4 a.m. to 10 p.m., offers piping hot corn and flour tortillas. The panadaderia, or bakery, has signature items like tres leches cakes made from scratch, Mexican sweet breads and bolillos next to donuts and French bread. In the 60-foot-long, full-service fresh meat department, shoppers may choose from 44 items like rib-eye steak, link chorizo, and ham hocks, while the full-service fish department offers 49 items such as head-on fish, squid, and fresh ceviche. After customers pick out their fish, the store will fry it for them at no cost. The salchicheria (deli) makes two varieties of potato salad to appeal to different ethnic palates.
The new Carnival store also provides fresh food choices not often found in a grocery store, such as a fruteria, or fruit bar, where cut fresh fruit and vegetables are offered in spears rather than chunks as is preferred by Latinos, or as flavored aguas along with salads, sandwiches, desserts, and a hot table of food that varies each day. The fresh produce department boasts more than 600 items—including 15 varieties of chili peppers— all priced to meet or beat competitors' offerings.
In addition, associates at the new Carnival Super Market have gone through an enhanced training program to make sure they are knowledgeable about the store and friendly and helpful to all shoppers.
While freshness reigns supreme, the new Carnival also provides packaged foods and other non-perishable merchandise selected with its customers in mind. The store center holds between 25,000 and 30,000 non-perishable items that include brands available in any store, such as Del Monte, Goya, Glory Foods, and Sylvia's, mingling with items like fruit nectars, pastas, and soft drinks imported from Mexico and 14 other Central and South American countries.
"If customers cannot find something they're looking for, all they have to do is ask," Byars said. "We buy direct as much as possible and we'll do our best to find it for them."
Up front next to the checkout counters are eight coolers to sell chilled drinks. Checkout racks hold the Mexican and South American candies and single-serve cookies preferred by Latino consumers. Even items like paper goods, cleaning solutions, plastics, toys, and batteries come in brands favored by Latinos as well as other brands.
"You might be surprised," Byars said. "The Latino emphasis gives it a dimension that enhances the shopping experience for all customers."
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About Carnival Supermarkets
Carnival Supermarkets (www.carnivalsupermarkets.com) consists of 24 grocery stores in the Dallas – Fort Worth metropolitan area that serve North Texas's fast-growing Hispanic population. With its flagship store in Oak Cliff, Carnival has launched a unique approach to the grocery marketplace – one that will act as a testing ground for its expanding chain of stores. Carnival is committed to satisfying the needs of customers in the communities the company serves.
CONTACT:
Craig McDaniel
Promote Success
214-914-4261
craig@promotesuccesspr.com