CHICAGO Morton’s The Steakhouse, having already learned how to make guests feel at home in its 77 restaurants, wants to make customers’ homes feel like the high-end steakhouse, right down to the USDA Prime steaks and iconic pewter-pig table lamps.
The Chicago-based chain on Tuesday introduced its online catalog “Morton’s The Steakhouse at Home,” which will sell Morton’s steaks, seafood and other gifts. The service was developed in conjunction with Chicago-based purveyor Allen Brothers, which has been Morton’s supplier throughout its 31-year history. The catalog is available at www.mortons.allenbrothers.com.
“Morton’s and Allen Brothers, two brands with the highest level of quality and consistency, have a shared Chicago heritage and a longstanding relationship dating back three generations,” said Thomas J. Baldwin, chairman and chief executive of Morton’s Restaurant Group Inc. “We’re extremely proud to feature our Morton’s Prime aged beef and seafood selections, available from our steakhouses to your home, in this new exclusive premium catalog and website.”
In addition to meat and seafood from Allen Brothers, Morton's online catalog will sell branded cookbooks, proprietary seasonings, steak knives and pewter table lamps shaped like a pig, which currently are going for $80.
The new offering from Morton's comes as the steakhouse chain and other upscale players battle plummeting sales in their dining rooms as the economy forces consumers to cut back on higher-priced meals. In its latest quarter ended July 5, Morton’s Restaurant Group Inc. reported a 26.1-percent drop in same-store sales. The chain also closed three of its locations this summer.
Other upscale chains have launched online catalogs or websites intended to extend the restaurant experience to their customers' homes. Last year, McCormick & Schmick’s developed the McCormick & Schmick’s Seafood Market, which delivers the concept’s high-end seafood and steaks overnight to customers nationwide. Like Morton’s service, McCormick & Schmick’s sells cookbooks and cooking accessories, but the seafood chain’s catalog also offers appetizers and desserts.
Fleming’s Steakhouse and Wine Bar does not offer a retail component online, but last year the chain did develop www.LeftoverSteakRecipes.com, a how-to website with tips for using Fleming’s leftovers in a more gourmet way. Casual-dining brand Olive Garden uploads recipes and cooking demonstrations to its website so diners could learn how to make some of the chain’s dishes at home.
Roger Drake, chief communications officer for Morton’s Restaurant Group, said there currently are no plans to sell any of Morton’s appetizers or desserts through the catalog, but may explore that option in the future.
“We’re launching website and catalog with just the steaks and seafood dishes,” Drake said, “but we expect it’ll be successful, and we’ll go from there.”
Contact Mark Brandau at [email protected].