The New York City Economic Development Corp. (NYCEDC) announced that it has selected four distinct creative firms—Gander, Librarie, Noble Signs, and Seven Roots—to craft the branding and aesthetic for the city’s five forthcoming municipal grocery stores, with one location planned for each of the five boroughs. The initiative represents a unique intersection of civic infrastructure and modern branding strategy, aiming to deliver public utility spaces that feel deeply rooted in the cultural fabric of New York while functioning with the polished efficiency of top-tier contemporary retailers.
Gander, the strategic branding firm celebrated for shaping the visual identities of popular direct-to-consumer sensations like Graza squeeze-bottle olive oil and Yellow Bird hot sauce, has been tapped as the project lead. In this capacity, Gander will oversee comprehensive research, strategic positioning, naming conventions, brand application, and overall brand development. The firm’s selection signals that the city’s municipal groceries may incorporate best practices and aesthetic sensibilities borrowed from some of the most successful direct-to-consumer brands of recent years.
For the creative team at Gander, the assignment is more than just another commercial account; it is a labor of love. Mike McVicar, a partner at Gander, expressed the team’s enthusiasm for the undertaking, noting that they view themselves, for better or worse, as grocery store nerds. McVicar shared that the team likely derives way too much enjoyment out of wandering the aisles of grocery stores everywhere they travel, making this municipal project a true dream assignment that combines a major civic endeavor with their favorite retail environment.
The stakes for the project are exceptionally high, as the municipal grocery stores are designed to serve as critical lifelines in neighborhoods battling food deserts and nutritional disparities. McVicar emphasized that the consortium’s primary focus is helping to make this ambitious civic effort to address food insecurity in New York City as wildly successful as possible, ultimately serving and helping as many people as possible. Achieving that goal, he explained, requires building a brand that resonates with an infinitely diverse population of New York City residents who possess notably high standards for their neighborhoods and communities.
To help navigate the nuanced linguistic and communicative challenges of the project, the boutique brand consultancy Librarie has been brought on board to co-lead brand positioning, voice, copywriting, and naming. Librarie brings a wealth of experience advising notable modern ventures, including Stiller’s and the prominent THC-infused beverage brand Cann. Fern Diaz of Librarie articulated the studio’s ambition to shift the narrative surrounding vital public services, expressing hope that the consortium can transform traditional bureaucratic discussions around affordability and abundance from words that can feel like dry policy jargon into something that everyday New Yorkers can genuinely feel and experience in their daily lives.
Ensuring that the new grocery stores feel authentically tied to the history and streetscapes of the city requires deep cultural context, which is where Noble Signs enters the picture. A multidisciplinary creative studio that notably founded the New York Sign Museum, Noble Signs will consult on New York City history and culture to guarantee that the final visual assets, signage, and environmental design feel entirely authentic to the city’s distinct visual heritage. The studio brings substantial local credibility to the consortium, having previously executed creative work for Ace’s Pizza in Brooklyn and produced hand-painted signage for New York City Councilman Justin Brannan’s Coney Island office.
Alongside Gander, Librarie, and Noble Signs, the multi-firm partnership includes Seven Roots, rounding out a collective expertise that covers every facet of consumer experience, retail operations, historical preservation, and visual communication. As the consortium begins its work, the collaborative effort faces the challenge of uniting diverse neighborhoods, municipal policy goals, and cutting-edge retail design into a cohesive public asset. With the groundwork now laid by the NYCEDC and its chosen creative partners, the city moves one step closer to opening its first municipal grocery stores, setting a potential new benchmark for how urban centers can address public health and nutrition through thoughtful civic design.
