Designing for sales: a new wave of building modernizations

Nation's Restaurant News,  Dec 10, 2007  by Sarah Lockyer

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It's a necessary evil in the restaurant business, especially in today's environment when customers want more of everything. Just like a restaurant's need to update its menu to keep patrons excited, a restaurant's design also must be regularly updated to keep current guests happy and potential patrons interested.

A new wave of building modernizations, or in some cases building reversions to the nostalgic designs of the past, currently is taking place across all segments of the industry. It is the latest strategy to boost sales and guest traffic while keeping a chain's brand in the spotlight.

Successful restaurants are "going the extra mile in designing," Susan Pitaccio, president of Maxey Hayse Design Studio Inc., an interior design firm for restaurants and other entertainment and dining venues, told Nation's Restaurant News earlier this year.

Consumers have higher expectations than they ever have had for their dining-out experiences, and that has forced restaurants to enhance their visual appeal, Pitaccio said.

"People today are looking for the total experience," she said. "They want good food, fast service and an environment they feel good in. It's the whole package."

So it's no wonder that concepts like IHOP, A&W, Ruby Tuesday, O'Charley's, Mrs. Field's Cookies and Damon's Grill, as well as countless quick-service chains and even a handful of higher-end steakhouses, are revamping their looks.

At Chicago-based Morton's The Steakhouse, for example, a newly branded and refurbished bar area has helped spark sales, the company said. Its "highly popular" Bar 12--21--a branded bar area that features a "Bar Bites" and liquor menu--has helped to drive sales and will be expanded from its current 2o locations to an additional 15-plus units this year.

At the Ruby Tuesday chain, based in Maryville, Tenn., a two-year remodeling initiative is set to be completed by March, the company has said. While the initiative has cost the company plenty, locations that were some of the first to be remodeled have experienced a nominal same-store sales increase of 2.5 percent, based almost solely on increased traffic, the company said.

Design elements for Ruby Tuesday's newest stores attempt to portray a more upscaled brand and include simpler warm exterior colors and black awnings, while interior changes move away from the brand's 1980s bar-and-grill look and toward an updated, sleeker feeling with modern lighting, leather chairs, dark woods and stainless steels. Custom artwork also is being added, the company said.

Its design elements don't end at the walls, however, as the chain's flatware, dishes and employee uniforms also have been updated.

Nashville, Tenn.-based O'Charley's also is working to update its look and feel to match its consumers' desire for more of a modern ambience, the company has said.

Most recently, the company has hired a new vice president of design and construction, J. Harold "Jay" Allen.

Allen will oversee the design and construction of company-operated and franchised restaurants within the concern's three restaurant brands, which include O'Charley's, Ninety Nine Restaurants and Stoney River Legendary Steaks, the company said. Allen's duties include construction and design responsibilities for the company's "Project RevO'Lution," a re-imaging of O'Charley's namesake concept, and "Dressed to the Nines," a similar program for the Ninety Nine Restaurant chain.

O'Charley's said it is in the process of an "ongoing transformation strategy," which aims to boost financial performance and guest satisfaction levels by updating its namesake chain and Ninety Nine.

Another casual-dining brand, the 30-year-old Damon's Grill, based in Columbus, Ohio, said this fall that it is beginning to revamp its sports-themed image, mainly to draw more women and families to its tables. The redesign, which is the company's first in nearly a decade, will be unveiled in a prototype restaurant set to open in Charlotte, N.C. Construction is set to start by year end.

Damon's said it is adopting a more contemporary look and a greater focus on food, Jon Quinn, the brand's vice president of marketing, told Nation's Restaurant News.

"Sports and entertainment will continue to be a key part of the Damon's experience," he said. "The new brand strategy puts more emphasis on our food, with the goal of making Damon's more appealing to guests every day, not just on game day, which is reflected in our new tagline: Great Food. Game Day and Every Day"

The company also said it would use the new restaurants as a marketing tool to attract potential franchisees.

The new design will feature a lodge-like dining room, more natural light and flat-panel TV screens. The revamp was developed with help from well-known restaurant design firm WD Partners.

At San Diego-based Jack in the Box, the brand started almost two years ago to enhance both the exteriors and interiors of existing and new stores. The more than 2,000--unit chain has set a goal of completing 200 remodels in 2007 and of remaking all stores within five years, according to company officials.