Revolutionising the perception of hypermarkets - Monoprix Hypermarket Qatar

Founded in 1932, Monoprix is a renowned French brand offering the best of food retailing along with clothing, household items, perfumes, gift items and more. Monoprix is present in around 85% of all French towns, its international presence is also growing, quite notably in the Middle East. Reflecting the company’s ambitious plans for the country and region, Monoprix opened its largest hypermarket in the world at Doha Festival City. The brands Zumtobel and Thorn contributed to the concept by creating a lighting solution that was able differentiate each area in the hypermarket but still provide a consistent feel to the entire space.

Revolutionising the perception of hypermarkets, Monoprix has introduced a concept that creates a variety of dedicated in-store experiences for its clientele. From restaurants, to a dedicated candy section, clothing and electronics, kitchen gadgets and organic food items, aiming to modify the consumer’s retail experience. The lighting has become one of the focal elements in supporting the concept.

Colour temperatures as space dividers
The store comprises two big sections, the food and non-food, with the general lighting serving as a yet another non-distinct divider: for the clothes, electronics and bottled goods the 4000K colour temperature was chosen, whereas for the areas with the fresh food a different concept was proposed: the rough flooring, finishes and warm colours are all evoking a market place feel, with the general lighting of 3000K.

The main non-food area with shelves is lit predominantly with Primata LED from Thorn, with the so called double asymmetric “shelf beam” that provides a good vertical illumination on the display products. The Virgule illuminates the whole health and beauty areas with the bottled products and packages, the kitchen utensils and electronics. Using a spotlight is quite an unexpected twist for the electronics, but a more common linear lighting was diverted in favour of the flexibility of tracks and spots: this is the area where the goods are moved frequently to highlight a product for monthly or weekly promotions, and Virgule literally facilitates in putting the product of the month into spotlight.

Light that attracts sales
The section for organic and fresh food has a totally different look. This area is designed to almost 1500 lux to stand out from other sections which are lit to 800 lux average. This bright punch attracts more people and ultimately leads to increased sales.

The market place area with fresh fruits and vegetables brings us to the farmer’s market, with its rough flooring and suspended boxes in the ceiling. The fish area is lit with Thorn Chalice is used for the preparation area. The preparation areas and chillers where the general lighting is needed, Thorn Chalice and Primata LED linear were utilized.

The full project, including the back of house areas, are illuminated by the Zumtobel Group brands– the flexibility of our offer and synergy between our brands worked well to provide the customer with everything they need. Thus, the back of house is lit with Thorn Cetus and Beta and in the warehouse Thorn Aquaforce is utilized.