Remember the Rainbow Foods I wrote about last week? Well, it reopened July 1st. I thought that I would do a quick comparison between the new-and-improved Plymouth Station Rainbow and the Lund’s down the street.

Lund’s, you will recall, is an upscale grocer in the Twin Cities area, much akin to Byerly’s (In fact, after a merger several years ago, Lund’s and Byerly’s are owned by the same company). They compete on service, selection, and atmosphere rather than price.

I went in the Lund’s and admired how nice everything looked. Detail, it seems, truly matters. I meandered about the store, going this way and that. Along my serpentine route, I happened to notice the price of Tropicana orange juice; it was cheaper than the Terre Haute Kroger. No card required! Fascinating.

After admiring Lund’s, I drove down the road to Rainbow. I walked in, and, surprise, everything was fully stocked. Quite a contrast to my previous visit, when I found the shelves bare. I walked around for a bit, taking it all in. Something about the place seemed unwelcoming, but I couldn’t put my finger on it. Then it hit me: the store was cold. No, the air temperature was fine. The store itself just seemed lifeless, sterile, and unwelcoming.

Why? The harsh high-intensity discharge lights cast everything with a very high color temperature, a bluish tone. The metal shelves seemed strict and industrial. The high, warehouse-style ceilings probably didn’t help the situation. This was all in contrast to the warm lighting, abundance of wood, and low ceilings found at Lund’s. All that aside, the most noticeable difference was Muzak. Or, in the case of Rainbow, the lack thereof. Whereas Lund’s provided subtle aural stimulus in the form of background smooth jazz, Rainbow was eerily quiet.

I feel that music has the power to shape emotions, so why not play relaxing tunes in the background? I can’t cite any research, but I’d be willing to bet that a gentle melodic din increases purchases. Makes sense, really. Smooth music relaxes shoppers and makes the experience more enjoyable. It then follows that the shoppers will be happier. People tend to buy more when happy, therefore soft Muzak-style music increases sales. Q.E.D.