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Shikatani Lacroix Redesigns M&M Meat Shops

Specialty frozen food retailer M&M Meat Shops, now M&M Food Market, has partnered with Toronto design firm Shikatani Lacroix to embark on the most transformative redesign in the brand’s 35-year history.

To support the reinvention of the M&M brand, Shikatani Lacroix designed a new store concept and in-store experience, developed a new logo, redesigned the M&M website, created new staff uniforms, and reimagined the packaging to create a more effective, convenient and hands-on shopping experience.

Shikatani Lacroix has taken on a holistic approach to the entire design so that it’s seamless,” said Andy O’Brien, President and CEO, M&M Food Market.

After testing two prototype locations in its hometown of Kitchener, Ont., M&M unveiled its new self-serve retail concept in Burlington, Ont., under its new banner M&M Food Market. Complete with shopping carts, colour-coded in-store signage and merchandising displays, the new store concept is now being rolled out across Canada.

“We have put the control in the hands of the customer and moved away from M&M’s long-standing practice of over-the-counter service, which did not allow customers to explore the full range of products,” said Jean-Pierre Lacroix, president of Shikatani Lacroix.

With the counters removed, customers no longer have to wait in line to be served and can walk freely around the space, browsing the various product categories that are now easily identifiable.

“We wanted to design a great shopping experience for the time-starved customer,” said Richard Dirstein, EVP of Creative and Innovation, “a stress-free environment where they can be inspired by the great tasting food and ingredient stories we can tell in this space.”

In addition to the entirely new store experience, Shikatani Lacroix completely redesigned M&M’s full line of packaging. The formerly all-white packaging is now colour-coded to segment by food category and includes beautiful, full-colour food imagery to increase appetite appeal and help customers navigate the 400-plus SKUs.

“The new design allows us a lot more opportunity to really hero our food,” said Allan Lindsay, Vice President of Marketing & Technical Services for M&M Food Market. “Shikatani Lacroix designed a more contemporary and accessible retail experience that better reflects our new brand promise from the retail store design and packaging, to the online experience.”

Shikatani Lacroix worked alongside Toronto-based market research agency Sklar Wilton & Associates, advertising firm Riddoch Communications and customer experience agency Fifth P on the research and development of M&M’s new market position.

Successfully transforming the M&M brand, Shikatani Lacroix designed an effective, convenient and hands-on retail shopping experience that meets the lifestyle needs of M&M customers and communicates its brand promise “Helping You Make Real Food for Real Life.