I selected Olson's Scandinavian Deli & cafe on Pico Boulevard in Mid City! I chose Olson's because it has been one of my favorite places not only in my neighborhood but in Los Angeles as a whole. Olson's has been around since 1948, but sadly, last summer they temporarily closed down. They have cited financial reasons due to lack of business. I believe much of this has to do with the location itself not being in a very high traffic area and also perhaps not enough promotion on their end. The restaraunt itself has NO shortage of charm- it is truly one of the most visually appealing spots I've been to in LA- and the food they serve (as well as the scandinavian candy bar) is all very tasty and trendy! It truly is a shame this neighboorhood staple has been closed (COVID hasn't helped either) but the owners are currently keeping afloat with their other business, Scandi-Candy, and they are looking for new owners to purchase Olson's and upkeep it's same legacy (looks like they have a decent amount of interest!).
Still thinking on a name....! (:
Upon visiting the home page, I noticed that there have been some recent changes in that they are now primarily promoting their other business, Scandi-Candy, in which customers are able to purchase the candy from Olson's candy bar online for delivery. Like many restaraunts, the main page notes that the location itself will be closed indefinitely due to COVID, however, as I previously mentioned, Olson's also has been closed until further notice since last summer. Therefore, the main menu, hours of operation, etc., are no longer posted. However, I still have that information accessible to me from my own experience, their other online presences- such as social media accounts- as well as many yelp gallery pictures and comments. The main page does have a center image slideshow that looks pretty nice. Presently. the only workable link on the site (other than a direct one for email contact) is to their sister business, Scandi-Candy. From what I recall, the original Olson's site did not have a menu for their in-store candybar, so I see Scandi-Candy as filling that role in a way (eventhough it is being considered as a second, seperate business). I would like to see a way in which both brands still can exist as one, given that the candybar was always equally a part of the Olson's experience. As far as the Scandi-Candy design goes, I don't love it. I think it looks a little cheesy. The Scandi-Candy shop website is also powered by Shopify, so the design is very impersonal and basic for any standard online store. This home page also has a nice-looking center image slideshow, and there is a link to a catalog as well as a store locator page. The catalog is pretty short in it's available listings and the store locator page with map and search bar is unnecessary given that it is an online ordering and delivery-based branch of the business. All in all, on the main Olson's site I do like their original logo design- I think it's very clean and simplistic. I like the general primary color scheme they have, as it reflects all of the flags of the main Scandinavian countries. In person, the shop is quite well designed in terms of harnassing the trendy nature of modern scandinavian minimalism, whilst still including a few eclectic touches that infuse some folksy, quaint, traditional scandinavian design elements. I think there are aspects of the general website design that do reflect a little bit of that same theme, however the site is too pared down and barebones to be very helpful in any way.
ABOUT: Open Face Food Shop is a great example of a competitor for Olson's. Like Olson's, it is Scandinavian cuisine (Open Face is Danish), it is geared more towards casual, lunch-type dishes, they both have very contemporary, trendy, youthful appeal, and they are both located in my same neighborhood: Mid City. However, Open Face has recently been thriving significantly more than Olson's had been. Part of this may be because Open Face has "brand new" appeal, in that it only opened some time around the start of last year, but it is also located where there is virtually zero foot traffic and has had better social media and online presence in general.
VISUAL DESIGN: Open Face's website is very modern and attractive. They have really really excellent food photography and a well coordinated color scheme. The header bar with logo and nav continue to remain at the top of the window when scrolling, and there is a nice parallax scrolling effect which gives it some added impressiveness. The logo even appears in the middle of the window while the page loads. Overall, very aesthetically well done site!
CONTENT: The content is good- they really went the extra mile with the beautiful photography of their food. They even have a gallery section with A LOT of pictures, the quantity of which may be a little unnecessary. The main page has a simple welcome message, an embedded map with location/ hours info, as well as a feed of their recent instagram posts. They include tabs to a more indepth "about" section, as well as to their other intiatives, such as the farmers market care packages and canned/pickled items they sell.
"CALL TO ACTION" ON HOME PAGE: The primary "call to action" is done well here, in that the "order online" button is specifically highlighted to stand out from the other tabs, and the header bar does continue to follow at the top of the window as the user scrolls. This is also achieved in the mobile version, where that button is centered on the intial background photo at the top.
NAVIGATION: The desktop nav is pretty straightforward, and the bar does follow at the top when scrolling, but I feel that the menu should not be missing from the main nav. The mobile version uses a hamburger menu, but it also is missing the menu as an option.
FUNCTIONALITY: The functionality is generally good, however, the pathway to view the menu is rather strange and clumsy. There is only a link to view the menu at the bottom of the "about" page, and when you do press it, it navigates to a whole new window on both desktop and mobile. On that page, and in a few other areas throughout the site, a few times there has been text that was either much too dark or much too light to read on the background.
COMMUNTIY BUILDING (SOCIAL MEDIA): Open Face does a good job with their community and social media presence. They are very active on their instagram, and frequently offer specials and deals to entice patrons. They also are very involved with farmers and local growers and they help sell other products from those local farms/businesses with their own market items. Additionally, I know firsthand how involved the owners are in the community aspect of the business. They are always there in person making conversation and direct relationships with their patrons and they are extremely generous to their return customers (they have once even let me take my food when the register had broken and trusted me to just pay it at my next visit!)
ABOUT: Sockerbit is another great example of a competitor for Olson's. Like Olson's, they sell Scandinavian candy, but Sockerbit is primarily a candy bar. Again, they both have very contemporary, trendy, youthful appeal and have walk-in candy bar locations in LA. However, Sockerbit has recently been thriving significantly more than Olson's had been. Sockerbit is clearly still active while Olson's is not, and that may have something to do with the fact that they specifically specialize in candy (and have an even greater quantity of items) and are located in a much more high traffic area.
VISUAL DESIGN: Sockerbit's website is clean and modern. Just like the store location, the website has a majority white color scheme. This can feel a little bit bland and sterile at points, but it fits extremely well in contrast with pictures of the bright, colorful candy. The rounded diamond shapes used for the picture examples of the colorful candy was a nice aesthetic choice. The logo of Sockerbit itself is a bit bland too for my taste- I like the playful font, but I wish that perhaps maybe just the "o" was in a bright color or something.
CONTENT: The content is very, very thorough. There is *almost* a little too much of it. I was kind of shocked that they listed every single type of candy they have, along with a nice photo of each of them too- extremely extensive! In this case I think that's great though & not unnecessary in that part of the site. They also sell home-related items that are colorful and inspired by Scandinavian design. There is nowhere to read anything about the store, which is kind of a bummer.
"CALL TO ACTION" ON HOME PAGE: The primary "call to action" is decent. Most users will be coming there to look at the candy options and that is pretty straightforward to do. It is the first tab on nav and also you are able to click anywhere on the first hero image of candy to get to that list as well.
NAVIGATION: The desktop nav is pretty simple and includes most of the necessary info, such as the candy menu, gift package options, and their home items store. However, it is unclear what "pickupnyc" is. No explanation is given, and that is confusing especially for LA-based customers.
FUNCTIONALITY: The functionality is really great in terms of viewing the menus. On desktop, the image captions even pop up only when hovering. Also when hovering, a white icon shows up that is supposed to represent a shopping bag, however I almost confused it as a "lock" shape and that was a little disorienting at first. Another issue is that it is unclear where to go to find out store location and hours information. In the bottom there are a couple links that don't work that probably should, such as the story behind the shop and a store locator!
COMMUNTIY BUILDING (SOCIAL MEDIA): Sockerbit's social media has some great, colorful pictures, but there is something rather confusing about whatever city they are supposedly based in. The instagram account is called sockerbitnyc and there is nothing to indicate that there is a LA location! Yet, their COVID disclaimers seem to indicate that there is only a store location in LA operating.
ABOUT: Nate 'n Al's is also a great example of a competitor for Olson's. They are a deli that has also been highly rated like Olson's, and they also have a long historical legacy: 1945 to Olson's 1948! Judging by their website, they also make an effort to have a more contemporary, trendy, youthful appeal without loosing the history and "mom & pop"-ness of their business. Nate n' Al's appears to be doing much better than Olson's as a business, very likely because it is located in a high traffic area in Beverly Hills and perhaps because it seems to be more of a Jewish/NYC-inspired deli, which is a little bit more classic in the traditional deli sense.
VISUAL DESIGN: Nate n' Al's website is modern and aesthetically well done. This is the main reason why I picked them from the competitor delis list! The website has a burnt orange, black/white/gray, sepia color scheme. This gives it a really nice "old-fashioned" and "black & white picture" vibe, (there is even an old black & white photo of the shop back in the 40s on the main page which is SO cool) but the orange gives it that modern pop of color. The retro/modern font of the logo is also a really well-balanced choice. Probably my favorite part is the menu because the font and organization is really aesthetically pleasing and clear to understand as well.
CONTENT: The content is pretty thorough. I love, love the inclusion of the historical photograph, but I wish they had written more about the story of the shop in the "about" section. The menu also looks very clear and thorough, and the pages are never filled with too long of info, so you are easily able to see the map, locations, hours of operation and so forth located on the bottom of the page.
"CALL TO ACTION" ON HOME PAGE: The primary "call to action" is good. Access to the menu is immediately available and they offer a number of links to where you can immediately order online, including a postmates link.
NAVIGATION: The desktop nav is perfectly suitable for the needs, and it may even have more links for where you can order from them than necessary.
FUNCTIONALITY: The functionality is very good! Because there is never too long of information on the pages, it is alright that the locations and hours info is located on the footer. The menu is extremely easy to read and understand. The only problem is that the actual link to the page to order online directly from them is pretty buggy!
COMMUNTIY BUILDING (SOCIAL MEDIA): It looks like their social media presence is pretty consistent. I like how they include photos from instagram on their main page on the bottom. The instagram itself could be a little better curated, but it seems like the website aesthetic is a little more advanced than the actual shop atmosphere, so they may need a little real-life revamping perhaps!
I would say- without a doubt- it's to get more customers to this shop so that they can continue being this wonderful little spot beloved by the neighborhood, as well as keep their legacy going!
I believe the target audience will be two main groups:
Millenials/younger foodies- mainly those who have a penchant for a great, trendy atmosphere (they used to play old school cartoons above the bar all day if that's any indication!) and unique/less common food (including foreign candy!). Scandinavian design & lifestyle has been very trendy in recent years.
Scandinavian people in LA- There is a decent-sized population of Scandinavian transplants in LA, and from my research, many people who loved Olson's particularly were those who were looking for authentic Scaninavian fare to remind them of home, or even of their heritage if they are next-generation.
- How can I consolidate Scandi-Candy into a more streamlined singular business with Olson's without detracting from the identity of this new branch of business either?
- Should I make a candy menu a la Sockerbit or will that be far too much of an uphill battle?
- How can I incorporate their social media into their site given their recent period of inactivity?
- How can I incorporate the simultaneously modern and traditional scandinavian design that looks so great in their shop into the look of their website?
- Find the information to rebuild a sample menu of what they would typically serve.
- Find the information needed to organize and represent the candy bar items.
- Conduct a little more research on both modern and traditional Scandinavian design.
- How can I make them more visible?
- How can I specifically reach those target audiences?
- Can I find the ideal way to reintegrate this new business branch, Scandi-Candy?
Time will be needed to brainstorm these modern/traditional design elements, but figuring out exactly what the content will be- especialluy in the menu items- will take up the bulk of the timeframe needed to build this site.