Q&A with Fixturelite co-founders Steve Orlando and Troy Geis

For years now, I have been helping Fixturelite co-founders Steve Orlando and Troy Geis to develop content for their Micro Market Design Newsletter. Often, we engage in a Q&A session, and this month, I decided to ask them about their revamped website. For creative people like these guys, a website is always a work in progress.

Bob: Let’s talk about your revamped website.

Steve: Let’s save it for the final newsletter this year in December. That’s when it will be fine-tuned, from the shopping cart to the content pages.

Troy: I think it’s more important to talk about how the website helps to refocus how people see what we really do. We're really not just a manufacturer of fixtures and coffee stations, etc. We are a company that provides leading education on how to create a consumer experience. That's how we're emerging as the one-stop shop for creating that consumer experience when it comes to convenience retailing. That is what we want people to understand.

If you look through the website, it's focused more on solutions than ever before. Everything is more solution-based instead of just – “look at our snack cabinets.” It's now about how we build an entire market experience for a customer with their consumer in mind.

Bob: Is that reflective of the type of companies you deal with in the sense that they are working with Fixturelite and are more interested in creating an ideal employee experience, as opposed to just buying some fixtures?

Troy: Our customers get it. They understand the value proposition in working with Fixturelite. There's just simply a lot of stuff baked into Fixturelite products and services that nobody ever sees and we don't specifically call out – but it truly sets us apart.

Bob: Do you want to throw a few of those out right now? Let's talk about, what is that value proposition?

Troy: Well, it’s the things that we've always talked about over and over again. Quality is number one. Our fixtures are easy to put together and take apart and easy to move when they have to be moved. Additionally, we share our expertise, and we take a lot of the work off our customers plates so they can focus on their business.

Steve: They are sturdy and look professional. We should also talk about the built-in hardware.

Troy: That’s right. In most cases, our hardware is built-in, so you save time at the install and don’t have to worry about missing parts. That just comes down to thoughtful engineering based on our experience as operators back in the day, and a lot of research and development.

Bob: Let’s discuss lighting – I often hear you say that Fixturelite lights the way forward when it comes to bringing products to life in the micro market locations you design.

Steve: Fixturelite better understands purposeful lighting techniques that showcase the product versus the fixtures or the displays themselves. Some of that stems from my experience in new home sales and model homes for 10 years, and some comes from belonging to one of the largest groups of retail professionals in the world. We point the spotlight where it belongs and that's on the product, without temporarily blinding the customer during their shopping experience. We do that through research and development with some of the most advanced and well-known retail lighting experts. It matters what you do with the light. Where you direct it. That is what is critical.

Bob: How important is the layout of a micro market?

Troy: We are very specific and intentional about how we lay out a market. There are techniques and reasons to lay out markets the way we do. Most of our competitors don't do anything like how we do it. They do it very differently so that they can maximize how they put walls together. I just looked at the photo of a micro market on LinkedIn where they have some sort of rack thing in the middle that shouldn't be there, but they did it because it probably links two segments of their market together that need to be connected, instead of putting everything where best retail practices would suggest.

Bob: Are we talking about directing the traffic flow?

Troy: In every retail store you go into, they know the path you're going to travel before you enter the door. That's exactly how the micro market should be set up. You should know the pattern that your people are going to travel because you want that person to come in and see the maximum amount of product during their visit. Otherwise, if you have what they want right there when they walk in the door and they pay right there, they never see the other 90% of your market.

Bob: Here I thought we were going to talk about your website, but there is obviously a lot more to Fixturelite than the fixtures, racks and coolers on your website.

Steve: That’s correct. Every operator should read the comments – featured in previous articles – from operators like Mike Purkey at Arizona Fresh and Louis Baresh at Executive Refreshments. Their experience working with us on projects speaks volumes about the added value that comes with Fixturelite and our commitment to the success of our clients.

Check out the solutions that can contribute to your success. Go to www.fixturelite.com for more information.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Bob Tullio is a content specialist, speaker, sales trainer and business columnist who advises entrepreneurs on how to build a successful business from the ground up. He also specializes in helping suppliers connect with operators in the convenience services industry – coffee service, vending, micro markets and pantry service specifically.

Tullio delivers this promise to any company that hires him for a 30-minute or 1-hour Zoom call: "That short session will elevate the performance of your sales team.”

Tullio can be reached at [email protected] or 818 261-1758.