News

Cool new looks are in QSR

Carl's Jr. jazzes up a cityscape with its contemporary glass-and-metal prototype.

March 25, 2004

March 26, 2004 It's been almost a year since the first prototype by Santa Barbara's Carl's Jr., who seemed to be the first on the map of revamping the looks of the QSR. But if you have been watching there are several chains that have gone back to the drawing board. The race is on for new development of in-store looks, the concept of how the drive-thru works and even complete overhauls of the concept are definitely the in thing. With the drive-thru continuing the demand attention, McDonalds is working to provide a new look in its drive-thru. In hopes to broaden its appeal to consumers and make the experience one to remember McDonalds has implemented the dual lane drive-thru as well as the single lane with multiple order points. What it very clear is that many of the chains are taking a page from the emerging Fast Casual segments playbook. Make the environment inviting with new colors, smoother lines, plush store fixtures and a focus to reduce the counter lines during peak hours. "This will be a big task for the mainstay QSR's but one they will have to stay on track with, if the expect to be in on the next phase of food concepts", stated Paul Barron of BMG Consulting, a leading group of Restaurant experts in technology and customer interface concepts. New looks will start to establish in the market and even the crossing of lines could occur. It will be hard for the consumer to tell the difference from a Carl's Jr. or a Panera Bread. With QSR clearly having the real estate advantage of their close siblings of fast casual, the shakeout of this segment could simply be the decision of chains like Carl's Jr. and McDonalds just making the commitment to change their look. If you cruise down Firestone Boulevard in Downey, Calif. looking for the new Carl's Jr. restaurant, you won't find it. But if you keep your eyes peeled for a building that looks like, say, an art museum, you will. That's because the burger chain's new prototype looks nothing like a quick-service restaurant. Free from fast food's iconic bright colors, mansard roofs and brick exteriors, and the triangular glass-and-metal building juts out of the cityscape. By day its abundance of glass and steel reflect the Southern California sunshine. At night, the well-lit structure glows, exterior lights casting stars on its metal skin. The interior, laden with industrial finishes, is as contemporary as the exterior. Glass windows are sheathed in metal frames. Exposed ductwork and halogen lamps hoveroverhead. Metal-backed chairs are stamped with the Carl's Jr. star logo. Bright-blue counters, red condiment shakers, a mustard circle poured into the gray concrete floor and mustard booth fabric lend spots of color.Far Left: Monochromatic booths with a hint of mustard add the detail to complete a modern style dining experience. Middle: Rounded well lit walk-up counters invite customers into a warm and new QSR atmosphere. Far Right: Cylinder booths complete the open, well-lit dining table so customers can enjoy both the interior and exterior.The avant-garde design didn't come about by accident. When they sat down to discuss a new prototype, as they do every five years, executives decided they wanted a building as high-profile as its Famous Star burger, says Andrew Puzder, president and CEO of Santa Barbara, Calif.-based CKE Restaurants Inc. "This time, we wanted to get out ahead of the competition and distinguish ourselves from the competition," Puzder says. "And we wanted to move away from fast food and more into a fast-casual feeling." To achieve that feeling, the company hired Los Angeles-based Rothenberg Sawasy Architects, a firm known for everything but its work in quick-service.                Indoor, Outdoor Aside from the "what's that?" curb appeal of the building, the new prototype has two main virtues, according to Carl's Jr. executives and the building's architects. The first is that it visually integrates the drive-thru and dine-in experiences. This is crucial because half the restaurant's transactions are done through the drive-thru. The drive-thru lane snakes along the building enabling drivers to see the action inside. Meanwhile, booths edging the interior give dine-in customers a comfortable perch from which to watch the drive-thru scene. Apparently, customers love the ringside seats. "We're getting positive feedback," says Jim McGrory, director of design and construction for Carl's Jr. "People like to watch the cars go by." The drive-thru itself has been widened to accommodate SUVs, and the service yard and its less-than-attractive components are hidden by a high wall. Thanks to the wall, customers don't pick up their food and then drive by a yard full of dumpsters and recycling bins, says Mitchell E. Sawasy, principal at Rothenberg Sawasy. A Touch of Green Another point of difference: The building meets so many green-building standards that Carl's Jr. is applying for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification from the nonprofit U.S. Green Building Council. High-efficiency glass, energy-efficient lighting, an upgraded HVAC system, lamps, wainscoting and other components made of 80 percent recycled material, the concrete floor and touch-free bathroom sinks all contribute. Carl's executives, though, didn't set out to build green, Puzder says. "It wasn't an objective going into it, but it became part of the design," he says. The green initiative will continue as Carl's Jr. expands the prototype, this year to another California and a Utah location. Within four or five years, the prototype will become Carl's Jr.'s standard building, but there's some work to do first, executives say. Cutting Costs McGrory wants to cut building costs by 20 percent and shave 10 or 15 days from the 80-day building timeframe. A "scrub" of the building in late February yielded a few cost-cutting measures, such as abandoning wallpaper for cheaper, easier-to-clean paint, and making outside metal canopies out of thinner, lighter material. Then there's the matter of finding communities receptive to such an avant-garde building. "We can't retrofit for community standards; we can't put red tile on the roof," explains Sawasy. "We have to go to city planners and say, 'this is what we want.'" Indeed, Carl's Jr. chose Downey as the site for the first prototype because of a favorable response from city managers. "They picked us," McGrory says. "Everyone was pleased a fast-food chain would build something special, not a standard rectangle." Downey's mayor even attended the grand opening, Puzder adds. Changing the Game Looks are in but service is the mainstay of any good restaurant operator. McDonalds operators have begun the transition of improving the service and changing the game of how people order. What used to be a line at the counter is now an inviting, please have a seat and order from your table. No, that does not mean that they have gone to waitstaff, after all this is still a fast service business. Instead, operators like Steve Bigari of Colorado Springs brought something else to his McDonalds. Now each customer can sit at a table or booth and simply pickup a phone and contact a crew person waiting to take their order, a few minutes later the order is brought right to the table. This process eliminated the time queue that often occurs at a counter where the person in front of you can't make a decision and holds up the entire line. "This is a new customer experience that could really be on the verge of changing the complete fast service restaurant experience", stated Barron of BMG. Operators have been trying to get consumers satisfied and putting them in a line is not the answer. New Audio Technology by Sensory3 Systems with POS integration allows operators to talk to as many as four customers at once; when the customer is ready they push a button and viola! They are placing an order. This is emerging as a new concept for restaurant operators. The same system that does this allows you to also talk to the drive-thru or even curbside parking slots as well. "This expands the ability of the restaurant to service multiple service models", stated Barron. Now operators can staff an on-site call-center like operation that can talk to customers all over the restaurant when they are ready to place an order. No more waiting in line. This is real news for the operations gurus that are focused on providing service and quality. Speed has gotten in the way over the years as the focus. "When a customer slows the process by not knowing what they want to order it breaks the rhythm of an operation", stated Barron. When you add new dynamics and new looks to an operation like what is being done in the industry right now, it won't be long before the resurgence of QSR is back in stride with high earnings and more new store openings.