Perkins plans remodeling program

Perkins Restaurant & Bakery will remodel more than 20 corporate restaurants during the first half of 2013, officials said this week.

The redesign is the Memphis, Tenn.-based family-dining chain’s first in more than 10 years, said senior vice president of development Bob Winters.

“We haven’t really done much for a significant period of time,” he said. “We conducted extensive research across the country with heavy users [of Perkins], limited users and nonusers.”

Consumer feedback drove the redesign, he said.

“It’s a complete exterior and interior remodel, which includes the exterior of the building, signage on the building, awnings, lighting and entrances,” Winters said. “The lobby and the bakery area and the dining room are all redesigned.”

The new color palette intends to give Perkins restaurants a more contemporary feel, he said. The exterior was changed to include the company’s signature oval, which is meant to move the “recognizable trademark” to the street side, drawing customers in.

“This is part of our continuing evolution and always reinforcing the best dining experience for [customers],” Winters said.

Restaurants are now divided into sections with different looks and feels, some of which are more appropriate for business meetings, or families, for instance, he said.

“These dining areas offer guests different types of experiences through unique presentations in space layout, seating, lighting and graphics, creating greater daypart appeal,” he said.

The plan is to eventually roll out the redesign to all 416 Perkins locations, he said. However, 282 of those restaurants are franchised, so the speed and process of the redesigns will be largely up to franchisees.

Although Winters said the redesign spurred a significant boost in sales at test locations, he declined to say by how much sales increased. He also declined to disclose how much the redesigns cost, but said the range is wide depending on what needs to be done at each location.

Franchisees are responsible for paying for their own redesigns, he said, and there currently isn’t an incentive plan in place.

“We believe the results will encourage our system to incorporate and get on board with this,” he said. “It’s all about satisfying guests and growing sales…we believe that the results will be the incentive. It’s their asset; it’s their business.”

Perkins is part of Perkins & Marie Callender’s Holding LLC, which is majority owned by private equity firm Wayzata Investment Partners LLC.

Contact Erin Dostal at [email protected].
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