Yearly Archives: 2015

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Make Utility Rebates Part of Your Energy Improvement Efforts

By Jonathan Tan, VP Energy Services The AMS Group, Hillphoenix In the commercial building space, grocery stores rank #1 for energy intensity, using more energy per square foot than even health care facilities. As consumer demand for more fresh and frozen foods grows, energy intensity will too, with more store space devoted to refrigerated and freezer cases. Improving energy efficiency [...]

By |2015-11-30T13:49:06+00:00November 30, 2015|AMS Group, Refrigeration Systems|0 Comments

Prepare for Refrigerant Regulation Changes; Future-Proof Your Business

EPA’s SNAP Phaseout Schedule for Alternative Refrigerants The wait is over. Food retailers and the refrigeration industry were in a holding pattern for months while the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency considered its next move on alternative refrigerants. Then, in mid-July, a 90-page ruling published in the Federal Register (pp. 42870-42959) confirmed what Hillphoenix and other industry experts had anticipated: Widely [...]

By |2015-11-08T14:15:15+00:00November 8, 2015|Convenience Store, Second Nature & CO2|0 Comments

New LEDs will have you seeing red in all the right ways

By Jonathan Tan, VP Energy Services The AMS Group, Hillphoenix Over the past decade or so, grocers have been reaping merchandising benefits of LED lighting in freezer cases. Despite initial limitations in LED color quality and total light output, both its cooler color temperatures and uniform illumination have literally cast frozen foods in a favorable light. Along with creating the [...]

By |2015-10-29T13:57:16+00:00October 29, 2015|AMS Group, Design Center|0 Comments

Before and after: Speedy fixes for merchandising mistakes

By Margie Proctor Hillphoenix Marketing & Design Specialist With no budget and only the merchandise on hand, I partnered with an independent supermarket customer to overhaul a closed-case display. The store’s merchandiser was focused on SKUs she was responsible for and spread the product too thin — so the set looked picked over. By cross merchandising, we were able to create [...]

By |2015-10-20T14:18:41+00:00October 20, 2015|Clarity, Design Center, Merchandising|0 Comments

Revealing food merchandisers’ secrets for closed-case refrigerated displays

By Margie Proctor Hillphoenix Marketing & Design Specialist Here’s a merchandising secret that’s kept far too well: Putting doors on refrigerated cases will enhance your displays. Skeptical, are you? Well, keep reading to discover just how compelling closed-case merchandising can be. Create a food gallery. The visual stimuli on store shelves can be overwhelming to consumers. All those shapes and [...]

By |2015-10-16T14:21:29+00:00October 16, 2015|Clarity, Design Center, Merchandising|0 Comments

Recommissioning cuts energy, improves store environment

By Jonathan Tan, VP Energy Services The AMS Group, Hillphoenix The food store environment is complex, with the various building systems essentially working against each other to maintain optimal conditions. General illumination competes with lighting used to enhance merchandising. Refrigeration competes with maintaining comfortable aisle temperatures for customers. Seasonal and daily weather variables further complicate the mix, affecting loads on [...]

By |2015-10-08T14:29:36+00:00October 8, 2015|AMS Group|0 Comments

Hillphoenix earns fifth EPA GreenChill Award

Hillphoenix congratulates all the 2015 GreenChill Environmental Achievement Award recipients who, along with Hillphoenix, were recognized by EPA Greenchill at the GreenChill Partnership’s annual Achievement Awards on September 29. Hillphoenix, a pioneer in designing environmentally sustainable refrigeration systems, received a 2014-2015 Achievement Award – Store Certification Excellence from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s GreenChill Partnership program. It’s the company’s fifth GreenChill [...]

By |2015-10-06T14:37:42+00:00October 6, 2015|Refrigeration Systems, Second Nature & CO2|0 Comments

Use food demonstrations to connect with customers

By Justin Webster Hillphoenix Design Center Specialist On September 22-23, Hillphoenix hosted Supermarket Sense, a gathering of industry experts designed to educate food retailers about current and future trends — and how to make the most of them. One of the sessions I led was called “How to Engage Customers and Increase Shopper Dependency.” We covered everything from shopper loyalty [...]

By |2015-10-05T14:43:48+00:00October 5, 2015|Learning Center, Merchandising|0 Comments

Shedding light on cost-effective energy reduction in convenience stores

By Jonathan Tan, VP Energy Services The AMS Group, Hillphoenix There are more than 152,000 convenience stores in the U.S. and about 80 percent of them sell gas. The food retail part of the business alone makes these stores energy intensive. Across the industry, food stores use an average of 51.5 kilowatt-hours per square foot  – more than any other [...]

By |2015-09-30T14:46:08+00:00September 30, 2015|AMS Group|0 Comments

Planning an effective retrofit strategy starts with benchmarking

By Jonathan Tan, VP Energy Services The AMS Group, Hillphoenix Download Infographic Supermarkets are the most electricity-intensive commercial buildings, using an average of 51.5 kilowatt-hours per square foot per year at a cost of about $3.70 per square foot per year. In terms of operating budget, energy is the second largest expense for food retailers after labor. In fact, given [...]

By |2015-09-25T14:57:48+00:00September 25, 2015|AMS Group|0 Comments
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