Focal Systems, the industry leader in retail automation, has partnered with Metropolitan Market, a Good Food Holdings portfolio brand. Focal Systems will deploy the Focal Systems Operating System (FocalOS) to digitize and automate the Pacific Northwest grocery chain through optimized ordering, inventory management, merchandising, and in-store labor to completely transform the overall customer experience.
Founded in 1971, Metropolitan Market has nine locations (with a 10th on the way) across Washington State and a rich reputation as the region’s leading independent grocer. Good Food Holdings, the holding company for the five preeminent and enduring food retailing brands Bristol Farms, Lazy Acres Natural Market, New Seasons Market, New Leaf Community Markets, and Metropolitan Market, is known within the industry for focusing on “high-touch, high-service” retail. It places great emphasis on enhancing the customer experience by cutting down on wait times, expanding employee expertise, and now optimizing in-store operations.
This pilot will involve deploying hundreds of tiny, inexpensive shelf cameras that digitize shelves hourly with the most accurate computer vision on the market. Then, FocalOS will use that data to automate many in-store processes, enabling accurate just-in-time ordering, replacing the manual daily out-of-stock scan with automated hourly scans, improving product availability for customers by increasing the productivity of replenishment staff, reducing food waste with better produce ordering, and more.
“Good Food Holdings is one of the premier retail holding companies in the nation, touting some of the leading luxury grocers across Washington and California,” said Francois Chaubard, CEO and founder of Focal Systems. “As the groundswell of AI and computer vision adoption takes hold across retail and grocery, early adopters, like Metropolitan Market, will see optimizations and enhancements across the in-store experience for customers, and in the backroom for staff, completely transforming the shopping experience and separating them from other retailers in the industry.”
“For nearly five decades, Metropolitan Market has been providing a leading and award-winning experience for customers across the state of Washington,” said Ron Megahan, CEO of Metropolitan Market. “In a rapidly evolving world, it’s our duty to continue innovating in order to provide the best possible experience for shoppers at all of our locations. Through our partnership with Focal Systems and their self-driving store, we’ll be able to remain the leading independent grocer in the region.”
Focal Systems has been leading the retail transformation charge, recently making headlines for its rollout across over 400 Walmart stores throughout Canada, as well as in the leading midwest grocery chain Piggly Wiggly. Having raised $40M to date, Focal Systems is used by retailers across three continents and delivers 50x in ROI with the implementation of the technology, making this the most profitable investment in all of retail technology.
