Skogen’s Festival Foods Gets a ‘Fresh’ and Modern Re-Design from Somerville Architects & Engineers

Since 2010, Somerville Architects & Engineers has partnered with Skogen’s Festival Foods on 11 store projects, 10 of them brand new stores.

In the more than eight years the two organizations have teamed together, Festival Foods has evolved its brand, attracted new customers and dedicated its efforts to serving the communities that each store calls home.  

Similar to Somerville’s history, Festival Foods’ story began in 1946 as a family-owned business, and today is both family and employee-owned. With family and relationships at the core of both businesses, they share a similar goal: go above and beyond to ensure that their products and services meet the guests’ (or clients’) highest expectations.

They keep the phrase, “Will this bring the guest (client) back?” at the forefront of every decision.

It was early 2018 when Somerville’s design team for Festival Foods thought, “We can help Festival Foods strengthen its brand, better reflecting its business and future goals.”

After all, it is Somerville’s ultimate vision to be an integral partner in its clients’ success.

So, the Somerville team designed a striking new store prototype for Festival Foods that accommodates portions of the company’s familiar store layout, while welcoming changes. Blending aspects of the time-tested layout with fresh retail concepts, the internal store layout is optimized for the guests’ circulation and experience.

The updated exterior adopts a more current design and allows Festival Foods to transition its brand into a new era. New colors and new materials are consistent with the Festival Foods brand, strengthening its trademark recognition.

Specifically, the more contemporary aesthetic has an emphasis on simple masses and planar elements defined by varying materials. The natural stone, green, grey and “wood-look” metal panels update the exterior for a fresh and modern feel. Added outdoor seating adjacent to the “brat barn” and seasonal display areas with landscaped planters are just a few of the added features, along with the new accent lighting, colors and signage, which contribute to a more current and energetic exterior environment. Inside, new flooring, tile and paint selections enhance both the public spaces as well as areas for Festival Foods staff.

“We’re excited to bring this new look to our guests as we enter new communities in the coming years,” said Mark Skogen, Festival Foods president and CEO. “As always, the look of the outside of our stores remains just as important as what is happening inside. Our partners at Somerville Architects & Engineers did an excellent job on the design.”

Founded in 1946 as Skogen’s IGA, Festival Foods is a Wisconsin family- and employee-owned grocer that is committed to giving back to the communities it serves and to providing guests with exceptional service and value. The company began operating as Festival Foods in 1990 and today employs more than 7,500 full- and part-time associates. Festival Foods currently operates 31 full-service supermarkets across the state of Wisconsin.