Hussmann's Hub

BRIDGETON, Mo. -- Food retailers, industry trade professionals and suppliers were among the attendees at the September 20 grand opening of the Hussmann Global Hub & Retail Innovation Center at the foodservice equipment company's Bridgeton, Mo., headquarters. The facility is a client collaboration center for learning and strategizing.

Hussmann said that it is helping food retailers find ways to attract consumers, reduce operational costs and create a unique customer experience within their store. With the opening of the Global Hub, Hussmann expands its capabilities to partner with retailers to turn trends into opportunities with solutions that are tailored to their specific needs.

"This new Global Hub is an industry first," according to Dennis Gipson, CEO of Hussmann Corp. "There is no other company that can bring together over 100 years of knowledge and experience into a hands-on, high tech space with the goal of providing game changing solutions for our customers."

The structure of the hub, with 13 individual venues and touchpad technology is a strategic resource for creative and conceptual thinking that will evoke ideas and solutions to unleash the potential in food retailing.

Retailers visiting the Global Hub will take part in a dynamic experience that encourages their participation and dialogue around:

• Evolving industry trends and events that affect the present and future of food retailing. Visitors can select topics of interest from Hussmann's "Video Magazine" to learn more about industry news and new trends that are critical to their business.
• Futuristic displays and point-of-sale (POS) approaches to stimulate creative planning. The company expects recently released products and future concepts to push the limits of conventional thinking. Together, they can focus on the future of food retailing and how new technologies, innovations and ideas will impact the industry.
• New technologies that can help improve sales and operations. In addition to hands-on opportunities, guests can navigate through Hussmann's newest equipment and technologies via the Hussmann App table. Visitors will also have the opportunity to learn more about and collaborate with employees from Hussmann's four plants in the United States and Mexico, where the equipment is manufactured.
• Retail food strategies and attracting customers. In the Central Hub, retailers will have the opportunity to discuss their challenges, brainstorm solutions and develop strategies for the future.
• Merchandising and design ideas from global retail outlets. The company expects to spark creative thinking with a virtual tour of retail outlets around the world while hands-on merchandising displays allow retailers the opportunity to experience the power of visual merchandising.

"The design strategy behind the Global Hub was to create an environment where we could bring food retailers, industry trend setters and thought leaders together in an open, collaborative space to talk about issues, challenges and opportunities," said Mike Higgins, senior vice president of marketing, strategic planning and business development. "Our goal is to build long-lasting partnerships with food retailers enabling them to build strong, successful businesses for today and in the future."

In addition to the 5600-square-foot Global Hub, several areas of the existing building space on the first floor of the Hussmann facility underwent concurrent renovation including a new open layout for office space, conference rooms, training rooms, an innovation room and Harry's C-Store Cafeteria that uses Hussmann's ISLA island, Freedom Line Reach-in, Freedom Line Multi-deck and self-contained glass door cases.

Hussmann is a leading manufacturer of refrigerated display merchandisers and refrigeration systems. The company serves a variety of customers involved in food retail, including supermarkets, convenience stores, drug stores and dollar stores.