EDGEWATER Md. At a time when many restaurant companies are closing units and scaling back operations, The Greene Turtle Sports Bar & Grille is working aggressively to expand, with the goal of adding more than 100 locations over the next five years.
Boasting an American menu with sandwiches, wraps, salads and burgers such as the Black ‘n Bleu and the Pigskin, the 22-unit casual-dining chain aims to create a fun and relaxing atmosphere in which to drink and eat. Key to the concept’s expansion is a flexible design format that allows potential franchisees to take advantage of a variety of newly vacated locations, said chief executive Mike Sanford.
“We find ourselves very fortunate to be in a position where we are able to grow, even with the economy the way it is right now,” Sanford said. “About two years ago we took on a joint-venture equity fund company that infused some capital with us.
“I think we made a smart decision at that time to be cash conservative with our growth, so we find ourselves in the position right now where we do have some cash that allows us to be fairly aggressive in our growth campaign.”
Flexibility in both design and layout makes it easier for the 22-unit chain to go into different types of locations at a time when more sites are becoming available because of the sour economy, Sanford said.
“From an interior design perspective, one of the things that makes us a little bit unique is that we are extremely flexible in the spaces we’re able to go into,” Sanford said. “We’ve had stores that we’ve built on the ground, we’re in-line, we’ve got end-caps, we’ve got end-caps with patios, and we’ve done some retrofits.
“A lot of people are more rigid and cookie-cutter,” he continued. “More established places might have a Plan A or Plan B, and that’s it. But we feel that the flexibility we have and being able to fit in a lot of different boxes, so to speak, gives us an advantage.”
Chief operating officer Bob Barry agrees.
“We will find a way to fit a Turtle into any space available,” Barry said. “And I don’t think a lot of people out there in casual-dining can say that.”
Because of that flexibility creating a cohesive feeling from unit to unit is important — and challenging, said architect Alan Hamm, who has been involved with the chain for more than 10 years and works on all of its corporate stores.
“Compared with some other brands we’ve worked with, they don’t have really tight guidelines for franchisees to follow,” Hamm said. “That’s one of the difficulties, making sure they have a consistent brand image.”
Design elements that are consistent from unit to unit include stained dark wood and the chain’s signature green and white color scheme. A crowning element of The Greene Turtle’s decor is a stainless steel mesh screen cap for the walls.
“It’s like in the old days when they had brass rails and glass sitting on top of low walls,” Hamm said. We’ve sort of taken that and made it a perforated, stainless steel panel with logos and stuff on it. That really adds a nice touch to the place.”
Frequently, those screens serve to divide the bar from the dining room, Hamm explained. “And even within the dining room we’ll occasionally have some of those just to offer a little more privacy.”
Consistent color schemes and a few decorative elements can be a unifying thread between varied locations, said Hamm, who sometimes consults with The Greene Turtle’s franchisees as well.
When franchisees share their layout plans with the corporate office, “oftentimes they’ll share that with me to review and comment,” Hamm said. “We’ll make recommendations as far as how they might want to do things. On a few, they’ve actually engaged me to come up with a different design, for the flow of the whole space and the kitchen.”
“Flow” is an important concept for The Greene Turtle, so the bar area and dining room can have separate atmospheres for sports fans and families, but still be part of the same Greene Turtle experience, Hamm said.
“Even though a customer is going to make a decision regarding whether he’s going to go to the restaurant side of the restaurant or the bar side of the restaurant, we don’t segregate those,” Sanford said.
“It’s still a fairly open space design because that sports bar atmosphere has the neighborhood feeling, and we don’t want people in the dining room to feel like they’ve been sent to the corner,” he continued. “If you see your buddies at the bar, you can go walk back and forth. We don’t cut off the space too much to make people feel excluded on the other side of the restaurant.”
Hamm added, “The bar is a big part of their image, and we have fairly uniquely shaped bars. We like to have that be an open space, if we can make that work. And we like a different feel in the dining room, where there is a slightly lower ceiling. It’s a little more refined, but it still flows together.”
The goal of The Greene Turtle is to create a homey, sports-bar type of atmosphere, said Barry, the COO. To support that partylike atmosphere, the menu includes several shareable items, such as several different dips and sliders.
“Our goal is to create a place where everyone gathers,” Barry said. “Where everyone knows your name, but where anyone could visit from outside and still be welcomed.”
The Greene Turtle’s welcoming atmosphere creates very loyal customers and a sense of community involvement, Barry observed. One of its unique aspects is the Greene Turtle’s Mug Club.
“When we open a restaurant, we hang mugs from the bulkhead behind the bar,” Barry explained. “The mugs are numbered, and we have a club where people can purchase a mug and it’s theirs for life. For that they become part of The Turtle. It’s their particular neighborhood establishment; they come in and drink out of their mug.”
“We have people who, when we open a restaurant, they’ll go to that restaurant, even if they live 60 or 70 miles away,” he said. “But they’ll come in and purchase a mug so they can have one in every Greene Turtle.”
Contact Elizabeth Licata at [email protected].
