From Background Music to Paging: Manny Rodriguez shares his thoughts on the Role of Audio at Westridge Markets in Episode 3, Season 8 of the SurroundScapes Podcast
In busy, customer-facing environments such as grocery stores, audio plays an important role in creating the right atmosphere for both customers and staff.
In Episode 3, Season 8 of Surroundscapes, Craig Cooper, North American Sales Manager at Bluesound Professional, speaks with Manny Rodriguez, Assistant Manager at Westridge Market and Valley Fresh Markets, to explore how Bluesound Professional’s networked audio solutions have helped elevate the grocery store experience for both customers and staff.
Westridge Markets has been serving Southern California communities since the late 1950s, when the family-run business began as a meat locker serving local farmers. It has since grown into a collection of four grocery stores, offering everything from fresh produce, meat and deli products to an in-house bakery and sushi prepared by dedicated chefs. Throughout its growth, the business has maintained a strong focus on personal customer service.
Looking for ways to further enhance the customer experience, Rodriguez and his team began exploring new audio solutions. “Our original Westridge location was fitted with a ‘high-end’ audio system, but it didn’t last long before it needed replacing,” he recalls. “When opening our newest Valley Fresh location, we began researching commercial audio and what was required from a system that could perform at its best throughout the day.
“This is when we came across Bluesound Professional. The products looked great, and they’ve been great ever since installation!”
Around 40 indoor and outdoor speakers, including the BSP500, are distributed throughout the store, including within the cooler areas, ensuring staff can hear both music and paging wherever they are working. Designed for commercial applications, the BCS300 is a pendant style ceiling speakerpowered by PoE, and delivers clear, consistent audio at relatively low playback levels, an important consideration in a busy retail environment where music needs to complement rather than compete with everyday activity. Paging announcements made via the phone system are also distributed through the speakers, providing a practical communication tool alongside the background audio.
Beyond functionality, the system helps create the right atmosphere within the busy grocery environment, balancing music against the ambient noise of customers, refrigeration and other activity. The store typically plays new-release pop, soft rock and indie, with playlists adapted to suit different days and moods. “On Sundays, we might play 70s or 80s music to reflect the mood,” explains Rodriguez. “We like to switch it up, which is easy with this system. We can even change the music in different areas if we want to.”
“Since installation, we get a lot of customers asking about the audio, such as, ‘What speakers are these? They sound really great!’ I tell them it’s all Bluesound Professional!” confirms Rodriguez. “We keep the sound low, but it still sounds great throughout the store.”
“The vast majority of grocery stores run their amplifiers and speakers on 70V systems, which can limit the audio quality and range that can be delivered. Bluesound Professional products can provide greater audio range and higher-quality sound,” explains Cooper. “Grocery stores can also be challenging environments acoustically, with lots of hard, reflective surfaces that can affect how sound travels throughout the space. DSP and high-resolution audio can help maintain clarity and consistency in these environments.”
On a day-to-day basis, the team manages the system using the BluOS Controller App, including its paging functionality. “We used to have an old-school paging system using IP phones with PoE speakers, so this has been a good learning experience,” explains.
“We’re working on more in-depth paging solutions, and Westridge will be able to test these out first,” adds Cooper. “We want to keep reducing the challenges people face.”
Staff have also been impressed, particularly in the cooler areas, where BSP500 speakers provide music while they work. “When we’re in there stocking, we have music playing and the staff are impressed with it. They say, ‘These must have cost a lot!’” explains Rodriguez. “Compared with the speakers we had before, and for what you get, they’re great value. In the coolers, we need to keep moving to keep warm, so the music is important!”
As an independent grocer, Rodriguez believes that choosing Bluesound Professional is a no-brainer. “Once we worked out the small kinks at the beginning, the system has been perfect – you just turn it on in the morning and it’s good to go, no need to spend time messing with it.”
The installation was relatively straightforward, with Cat6 cabling and speaker connections handled externally before Rodriguez configured the system. PoE also simplified deployment by removing the need for separate power connections at each speaker. Since then, Bluesound Professional has further streamlined the process with a new BluOS utility that allows multiple speakers to be configured simultaneously. “The utility wasn’t available when Westridge did the installation, but it will save a lot of time on future projects,” says Cooper.
Following the success of the initial installation, the team is now planning to retrofit another Valley Fresh Market location in Solvang. The project includes a new ceiling, lighting and audio system, with the team working alongside Muzicraft to integrate additional Bluesound Professional speakers. The longer-term plan is to extend the approach to the Midtown location, creating a consistent audio experience across more of the stores.
Listen to Episode 3, Season 8 of the SurroundScapes podcast with Manny Rodriguez, Westridge Assistant Manager here.
Follow every episode of the Surroundscapes podcast and dive deeper into the world of commercial AV at surroundscapes.bluesoundprofessional.com.
