Redlands, California—Fresh Thyme Farmers Market is on a mission to improve the way Midwest communities eat, and the company is using Esri Location Analytics to do it. The solution is helping the innovative grocer open 50 stores over the next six years throughout 12 Midwestern states. The start-up grocer is using Esri technology and data to help the Fresh Thyme corporate team prioritize markets and rate, rank, and compare potential sites based on geographic and demographic analyses.
"We consider location analytics to be an essential step in our process because everything we do is geographically referenced," said Jim McCloskey, chief financial officer, Fresh Thyme. "The real value is the ability to organize and filter information so we can make the best decisions. We are able to look at and prioritize sites for final drive-bys instead of visiting every single site. Esri technology helps us make better sense of a lot of data and saves us time and money."
Fresh Thyme executives now use location-based solutions to interactively analyze existing stores and visualize future ones from the cloud. This enables rich, interactive presentations that can be used anywhere. Additional research can also be conducted quickly to address new questions or ideas raised during review. ArcGIS Online platform-based templates allow executives to access information both in the office and out in the field, visiting old sites and considering new ones.
"We are honored to support Fresh Thyme, a business that positively impacts communities by providing fresh, natural foods and products," said Simon Thompson, director of commercial solutions at Esri. "We understand the importance of site selection and market area research and are pleased that our software delivers the ability for Fresh Thyme to leverage beneficial analysis that other retailers rely on."
For more information on how Esri Location Analytics helps organizations do better business around the world, visit esri.com/retail.