As CEO of Legend Food Service of Connecticut, Kyle Loughran is focused on growth. He sees more opportunity than ever in the convenience services space and micro markets, with support from Fixturelite, are a big part of Legend’s strategic plan.
Legend is attracted to technology
Loughran is attracted to the new technology that supports operators by optimizing service, managing warehouses and driving their push toward unattended retail. “We are actively trying to minimize vending and replace it with micro markets,” said Loughran. “Especially in smaller and medium sized locations, the VIV Fixturelite Markets are working very well. Typically, the conversion from vending to a micro market results in at least 3X the sales.”
Recently, Steve Orlando, an experienced operator of ten years who co-founded Fixturelite, travelled to Connecticut to help support Legend Food Service through a major micro market revamp.
A consultative approach that works
“There aren’t too many suppliers who would fly across the country and help us with one of our best customers,” said Loughran. “Steve did a remarkable job, using the design tool to create a rendering for the client. It was a consultative approach that worked. Fixturelite is more than a supplier. They are a design facilitator.”
Loughran said that his team learned quite a bit watching Orlando use the Fixturelite Design Tool. “Our people are now showing customers, by using design, how we can build them a break room that they can be proud of. The design tool has helped us win a lot of business. We now use it for every micro market opportunity that comes along,” he said.
Fixturelite pays for itself
While Legend is busy converting vending to micro markets whenever possible, the company is also switching out older markets with the VIV Fixturelite Markets and in some cases, is just freshening up markets with Fixturelite products. In both cases, Loughran said the changes pay for themselves. “There is no question about it, the better looking a market is, the more we sell. We revamped our markets using Fixturelite products and expect a minimum 10% increase in sales over the old market set up.”
In larger locations, Legend is using Fixturelite’s design ideas and products to create micro market environments that bring a coffee house feel to the workplace. “We need to minimize how many people are walking to Starbucks at 3 p.m. for 30 minutes. That’s dollars walking out the door for us and the client. Our job is to create a good break room and a culture that makes the employees want to stay,” said Loughran. “We plan to do a lot more work with Fixturelite in the future. Every expectation has been exceeded by Fixturelite.”
An impressive combination
Orlando has been impressed by Legend and the unique combination of strengths at the company. “They are focused on having the best available technology in every aspect of their business” said Orlando. “At the same time, they have a very experienced leadership team. Technology and experience – that is a great combination.”
