SACRAMENTO, CA - It would be great to say that we visited the local Nugget Market out of pure happenstance, but that’s not true. To get to Nugget and shop its produce aisles is about a 20 minute drive, but a drive worth its while.

The outside view of the store snags attention enough to project luxury without being cheesy, even with the greek-style statues above both doorways.

Stepping into the store, produce clearly gets the star treatment. While we have reported previously on the growing trend of promoting fruits and veggies front and center, this is different. You really have to work to get past the fresh foods to the packages and snack aisles.

Nugget also had posters featuring local growers and companies to connect a story to the produce being sold, its approach being to hang them from the ceiling, along with artistic labels hanging over each section being sold.

For example, you have to try in order to miss the organic section of produce being sold, as you can see below.

The market also had an interesting approach to showcasing the produce itself. Some of the items were a bit more traditionally stored; brightly-colored crates, stacked together in a clearly coordinated circular or cubic display on the shop floors.

The wet rack, however, held the vegetables in an almost artistically-designed shape of waves going in opposite directions, miraculously securing them into a heart-like shape. The fact that the center stock was artichoke hearts did not escape the eye, either.

And all around were farmers market-style canopies to emphasize that “locally grown” feel.

The trip was, overall, an educational one on how displaying produce a certain way can change the perception of it. The items looked brighter and the shapes made the trip one more of fun than obligation, more than likely putting patrons in a happier, much more cash-spending sort of mood.