1. Chapter 3 Concept, Location, and Design
Restaurant Concepts
Concepts: Clear Cut or
Ambiguous?
Protecting a Restaurant’s Name
Defining the Concept & Market
Successful Restaurant
Concepts
Concept Adaptation
Changing/Modifying a Concept
Restaurant Symbology

2. Chapter 3 Concept, Location, and Design
When a Concept Fails
The Multiple-Concept Chain
Sequence of Restaurant Development
Common Denominators
Planning Decisions
Profitability
The Mission Statement
Location & Design

3. What is a concept?
The matrix of ideas that constitute what will be perceived as the restaurant’s image.
It provides the framework on which to hang the image.
Applies to any foodservice operation.
Should fit a definite target market.
Distinguishes the establishment as D&B, different & better, than the competition.
May be necessary to modify as competition arises.

4. Concepts include… Public relations Advertising Promotions Building
Curbside appeal
Décor
Menu
Staff
Music
Style of operation

5. Symbols Aspects of the concept seen in the: Sign Logo Colors
Upholstery
Food
Food presentation

6. Concepts: Clear Cut or Ambiguous?
Many restaurants lack clear cut concepts because there is no integration of the atmospherics.
Everything should fit together:
Signs
Uniforms
Menus
Décor
A concept is strengthened if it establishes an identity.

7. The Name is Part of the Image
THE SPAGHETTI FACTORY
Suggests quick service, low costs & a fun place for Italian food.
THE SEVEN GRAINS
Suggests a healthy-food restaurant.
LONG JOHN SILVER’S
Suggests seafood.
GRANDMA’S KITCHEN
Suggests a homey, friendly place.

8. Protecting a Restaurant’s Name
Lawsuits happen!
Trademark regulations protect the use of a name.
If another party uses your name you should take action.
Loss of the right to a name means changing signs, menus, promotional material, etc.
It also means the loss of power that has been built into the name by the superior operator.

9. Defining the concept & market
In selecting a concept for a restaurant, define it precisely in the context of which markets will find it appealing.
The market may constitute only a small percentage of the total population in an area.
i.e., a coffee shop with counter service would appeal to interstate travelers.
Must be a market gap or need for the idea.

10. Market/Restaurant Relationship
The concept and market comprise the hub around which the restaurant develops. They are central to the restaurant, supported by the menu, prices, service, quality, location, atmosphere, food & management.

11. Successful Restaurant Concepts
TGI Friday’s has remained successful over the years because it has stayed close to the guest and concentrated on quality & service combined with a theme of fun.
The Lettuce Entertain You Group has several theme restaurants in the Chicago area & beyond including:
Scoozi, which recalls an artist’s studio & serves Italian country cuisine.
Café Ba-Ba-Reeba, a Spanish restaurant featuring tapas, the popular hot and cold “little dishes of Spain”.
Shaw’s Crab House, a premier seafood house features the Blue Crab Lounge—an oyster bar offering oysters on the half shell, clams, lobster, and crab dishes. The main dining room serves more than 40 fresh seafood items plus chicken & beef.
Hard Rock Café
Union Square Café
Corner Bakery Café

12. Concept Adaptation
Most concepts that have not been tested need some adaptation to the particular market.
Concept development has always been important in the restaurant industry, but it is becoming more so now that dining districts are developing in almost every community.
Different menus and prices attract different markets.

13. Changing/Modifying a Concept
Many highly successful concepts that have worked well for years gradually turn sour.
The customer base and the demographics change.
Morale and personal service may decline.
Copy & improve
There is no such thing as a completely new restaurant concept—only modifications, changes, new combinations, changes in design, layout, menu, and service.

14. Restaurant Symbology
Restaurant symbology includes the logo, the line drawings, the linen napkins & the service uniforms—
This all helps to create the atmosphere .
Cesar Ritz: Waiters dressed in tails.
Chart House: Servers dressed in Hawaiian attire.
McDonald’s: Ronald McDonald.

15. When a Concept Fails The concept can be changed to fit the market.
Conversion from one concept to another can take place while the restaurant is doing business.
A new concept (complete with decor, price, & service), may better appeal to the same market & siphon customers away from the competition.

16. The Multiple-Concept Chain
Multiple-concept restaurant chains can have five or more restaurants in the same block, each competing with the others, each acquiring a part of the restaurant market.
Customers do not like feeling like they are eating in the same restaurant all over the area, so the restaurants are varied somewhat and carry different names.
The largest of all restaurant companies, Tricon Global Restaurants, Inc., has three concepts—KFC, Taco Bell, and Pizza Hut. They stand alone, twin or even triple concepts.

17. Sequence of restaurant development:
Business marketing initiated
Layout and equipment planned
Menu determined
First architectural sketches made
Licensing and approvals sought
Financing arranged
Working blueprints developed
Contracts for bidding
Contractor selected
Construction or remodeling begun
Furnishing and equipment ordered
Key personnel hired
Hourly employees selected and trained
Restaurant opened

18. Planning Services
Many aspects of restaurant design are carried out by other parties, hired by the owners and management. The designer, for example, performs the following services:
Basic floor plan
Equipment schedule
Electrical requirements
Plumbing requirements
Equipment
Equipment elevations
Refrigeration requirements
Exhaust and in-take requirements

19. Common Denominators Some factors may be common to all
kinds of restaurants:
Human needs met by the restaurant
Menu prices
Degree of service offered
Space provided for each customer
Rate of seat turnover
Advertising & promotions expenditures
Productivity per employee
Labor cost
Food cost

20. Planning Decisions Who are the target customers?
Buy, build, lease or franchise?
Food preparation from scratch or from convenience items?
A limited or extended menu?
Service: limited or full?
Young part-time or older career employees?
Paid advertising or word-of-mouth advertising?
Grand opening or soft opening?
Electricity or gas?

21. Profitability
Most profitable restaurants are in quick-service category because they have:
Predominantly minimum-wage personnel
High sales volume
The use of systems
Excellent marketing

22. The Mission Statement
The purpose of the business and the nature of what it offers.
The business goals, objectives, and strategies.
Philosophies and values the business and employees follow.
Example: Chili’s Grill and Bar: “We aim to be a premier growth company with a balanced approach toward people, quality and profits: to cultivate customer loyalty by listening to, caring about, and providing customers with a quality dining experience; to enhance a high level of ethics, excellence, innovation and integrity; to attract, develop, and retain a superior team; to be focused, sensitive and responsive to our employees and their environment: and to enhance long-term shareholder wealth.”

23. Location Criteria
Demographics of the area: age, occupation, religion, nationality, race, family size, educational level, average income of individuals and families.
Visibility from a major highway.
Accessibility from a major highway.
Number of potential customers passing by the restaurant (potential customers might be only travelers going through a community, drivers, local workers).
Distance from the potential market.
Desirability of surroundings.

24. Location
Dinner or family-style restaurants need not place the same high priority on convenience of location necessary for casual and quick-service establishments
Location decisions are based on asking the right questions and securing the right information.
Real estate agents are prime sources.
Real estate commissions are ordinarily based on 6 percent of the building’s selling price and 10 percent of the selling price of raw land.

25. Location
Other sources of information are the chamber of commerce, banks, town or city planners & other restaurant operators.
Town & city planning officials can provide traffic and zoning information. Know what zoning officials are planning for the future.
Locations wax and wane in desirability, depending on a number of conditions, including the general economy, the nature of the residents of the area, the presence or absence of new or declining buildings, changing traffic flows & security.
Look for built-in traffic generators such as hotels, business parks, ball parks, indoor arenas, theaters, retail centers & residential neighborhoods.

26. Location Criteria Proper zoning. Drainage, sewage, utilities.
Minimal size.
Length of lease.
Excessive traffic speed.
Access from a highway or street.
Visibility from both sides of the street.
Market population.
Family income.
Growth or decline of the area.
Competition from comparable restaurants.
The restaurant row or cluster concept.

27. Some Additions to Consider:
Minimum population needed to support the concept
Downtown versus Suburban
Many restaurants have faded or failed because of the exodus of the middle class from the downtown area, leaving the restaurant perhaps a luncheon crowd, but no one for dinner.
Average Travel Time to Reach Restaurants
Patrons will travel an average of 15 to 18 minutes to reach a hotel, steak, full-menu, or fish restaurant. People often spend about 10 minutes when going to cafeteria & department-store restaurants.
Matching Location with Concept
A particular site may be right for a coffee shop but wrong for a dinner house or a fast-food place.
The size of the lot, visibility, availability of parking, access from roads, and so on, all have an impact on the style of restaurant that will fit a location.
Takeover Locations
Being short of capital or wishing to minimize risk, the beginning restaurateur often starts by leasing or buying out an existing restaurant
Cost of the Location
A restaurant has two potential values, its real estate value and its value as a profit generator.

28. Visibility & Design Criteria
Visibility & accessibility are important criteria for any restaurant.
Visibility is the extent to which the restaurant can be seen for a reasonable amount of time, whether the potential guest is walking or driving.
Design needs to correlate with the theme and includes:
Space allocation - front of the house and backstage
Lighting (single most important element)
Color (in tandem with lighting)
Layout of the dining area

29. The End
Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.