Village Inn topped the Family-Dining sales list despite a decline of 1.9 percent versus the Preceding Year.

While Second 100 Family-Dining chains have been fighting back against stiff competition from virtually every corner of the restaurant industry, total domestic sales and new unit growth in the segment continued to contract in the Latest Year.

The seven brands comprising the Second 100 Family-Dining segment generated an aggregate $1.59 billion in U.S. systemwide sales in the Latest Year, marking a decline from $1.62 billion in the Preceding Year.

At the end of the Latest Year, the group had a combined total of 1,218 outlets, a decrease of 2.1 percent from 1,244 locations in the Preceding Year.

But chains within the category — such as Huddle House, Shoney’s, Village Inn and Shari’s Restaurants — are attempting to combat the competition with food and beverage overhauls and restaurant redesigns that are intended to spur sales growth.

At Beaverton, Ore.-based Shari’s Restaurants, the goal is to make the menu more appealing to customers in the Northwest by showcasing regional, local and fresh foods, said Michael Kiriazis, vice president of marketing for the 100-unit chain.

“We’re positioning ourselves as a hybrid of family dining and casual dining,” he said, noting that Shari’s serves a limited selection of local beers and wines, which is unusual for family chains. “Family dining is waning, and that’s why we’re doing something different.”

Although most family-dining restaurants have a breakfast focus, dinner is the largest daypart at Shari’s, he said.

Kiriazis said the chain is trying to attract younger customers and has added higher-end items like a Chimichurri Steak Sauce and Cedar Plank Wild Alaskan Salmon to the menu.

“It’s a branding overhaul,” he said.

Data

• Second 100 rankings and results

The company reported U.S. systemwide sales of $158.8 million in the Latest Year, up 2.2 percent from $155.4 million in the Preceding Year.

After several years of declining domestic systemwide sales, Nashville, Tenn.-based Shoney’s slipped from the No. 1
spot to second place in this year’s report.

Estimated U.S. systemwide sales at Shoney’s — $308 million in the Latest Year — fell 7.5 percent from $333 million in the Preceding Year. Village Inn, with $317 million in estimated systemwide sales, topped this year’s Second 100 Family-Dining list despite a decline of 1.9 percent in sales versus the Preceding Year.

Shoney’s is hoping that a new design — which debuted at the brand’s recently reopened Jackson, Miss., location — will help to reinvigorate the brand.

Huddle House, which posted $237.2 million in U.S. systemwide sales in the Latest Year — up 2.5 percent from $231.5 million in the Preceding Year — said it is planning to overhaul all of its 396 units with a more contemporary design.

The new design includes plush seating and a fresh color palette. The redesigned units, according to chief executive Michael Abt, have seen sales increases of 30 percent or more. Abt said 90 percent of the system will be reimaged by 2017.

“We’re really evolving Huddle House from a small, local diner to an updated, modern family-dining restaurant,” said Jim Carr, director of franchising at Huddle House. “We’ve  been fortunate that we’ve had comp sales improvement every month pretty consistently for the past three years.”

Sixty percent of the sales at Huddle House are generated during the breakfast daypart, he said, which has seen increased competition from quick-service chains like Dunkin’ Donuts in recent years.

“But, you know, they tend to be in larger markets, and we tend to be in secondary and tertiary markets,” Carr said. Smaller cities, he said, will be growth targets in coming years.

Village Inn’s 206 units saw a slight uptick in estimated sales per unit to $1.5 million in the Latest Year. That was due in part to “pie rush” Wednesdays and the company’s value positioning, said Jeff Guido, president of the Family Restaurant Division at American Blue Ribbon Holdings, the company’s Denver-based parent.

Franchisees have continued to invest in the brand’s reimage program, he said, noting that the reimaged units will drive growth into the future.

Contact Erin Dostal at [email protected].
Follow her on Twitter: @erindostal.

By the numbers

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