Denny’s closes highest-volume unit for remodeling

Denny’s Corp. has closed its highest-volume restaurant, located in Las Vegas, for a rebuild that will incorporate the new Heritage brand design when it reopens in 2015, the company said Friday.

The restaurant is adjacent to the Best Western Plus Casino Royale and across the street from the Mirage Hotel and Casino on the Las Vegas Strip. The landlord of the site is redeveloping the property, and the new-and-improved Denny’s will have additional seating capacity, the Spartanburg, S.C.-based company said.

“Our Casino Royale location has been in operation for nearly 50 years, and in the past year alone served 746,000 guests,” John Miller, Denny’s president and chief executive, said in a statement. “We have a marquee location with this restaurant, and we now have the opportunity to work closely with our landlord to incorporate our new Heritage brand image and add additional seating capacity so that we can continue to serve Denny’s craveable breakfast, lunch and dinner 24 hours a day. We are proud to bring a fresh experience to this location and eagerly look forward to its completion in 2015.”

In 2013, the restaurant was expected to contribute pre-tax operating income of about $2.8 million to $2.9 million.

Denny’s has been working on remodels with a Heritage design that reinforces its brand positioning as “America’s Diner.” As of the end of the Sept. 25-ended third quarter, the company had completed 115 remodels, of which 26 incorporated the Heritage design.

The remodels have boosted same-store sales and traffic, resulting in mid-single-digit gains, despite the challenging economic environment, Miller said in a third-quarter earnings call with analysts. About 70 percent of the system is due for a remodel between 2014 and 2018, he said.

Opened in 1966, the Las Vegas restaurant is one of Denny’s oldest existing units and among 164 company-owned locations within the 1,686-unit family-dining chain.

Contact Lisa Jennings at [email protected].
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