Joe Dobrow

Given all the changes, a new name makes sense, said Joe Dobrow, the company's vice president of marketing.Dobrow is also former director of national marketing for Whole Foods Market Inc. of Austin, Texas, which bought Ordan's former grocery chain, Fresh Fields, in 1996.

The most visible changes have been to the stores' décor and layout to make the aisles more navigable.

Less visible but perhaps just as important was the decision to lower prices.Sutton Place was associated with prices that Dobrow called "outrageous," the result of a company that was undercapitalized and trying to squeeze out every dollar it could, he said.

The new owners looked through the Bethesda store, item by item, and created the "Insulting List" of products with inflated prices, Dobrow said.
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Without such everyday items, "You might as well just escort [customers] across the street to Giant and Safeway," Dobrow said.
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When the company conducted focus groups in this area and in Connecticut, where three of the four Hay Day markets are located, some consumers didn't like it, Dobrow said.
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"We wanted to head it off at the pass," Dobrow said.

Because many of the new management staff also helped found the first Fresh Fields in Rockville in 1991, they remembered the reaction when Ordan sold Fresh Fields to Whole Foods, Dobrow said.
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Sutton Place Group anticipates expanding in the Virginia and Connecticut markets, Dobrow said.The two existing stores in Maryland are in Bethesda and Pikesville.

Ordan and Dobrow see an important distinction between the two chains.
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Whole Foods is bound by self-imposed restrictions on ingredients, such as no artificial additives or hydrogenated oils, whereas Sutton Place, while carrying some all-natural items, emphasizes taste, Dobrow said.

"That's good.There's many reasons why you can make an argument for doing that," Dobrow said of Whole Foods' product line."What they don't focus on is the taste."

For example, after a review by a committee specifically charged with tasting the merchandise, the new management at Sutton Place Group has introduced Emmi Yogurt, produced in Switzerland using milk from cows grazing in the Alps.

The company chooses its communities based on a concentration of its target demographic: highly educated people who appreciate high-quality food, Dobrow said.

Joe DobrowDirector of National Marketing Programs