6 tips for restaurant brands considering expanding into non-traditional venues.
By Stefanie Rakes
Successful restaurant franchise concepts are seldom happy remaining stagnant — they’re looking ahead to the next growth opportunity, with expansion at the top of their list. And as this mindset takes hold in concepts large and small, it’s easy to be outpaced by competitors. At this point, it’s only natural to look outside of brick-and-mortar real estate into non-traditional venues such as colleges and universities, airports, food courts, stadiums and even transportation hubs.
But chances are, in order for your brand to grow in this new direction, some changes need to occur. Here are some tips that operators should keep in mind in order to successfully make the jump into non-traditional venues.
Choose the Right Environment
Consider what your brand does best. Do you serve food that can be made and distributed quickly? Maybe an airport would be a good fit. Does your brand appeal strongly to millennial consumers? Perhaps a college or university could suit your needs. Don’t try to be everywhere at once — focus on the strengths of your brand and let that guide your way. Also, location is key. Make sure your location is in a high traffic area within the non-traditional venue, not in a quiet corridor off the beaten path.
The name of the game in adapting your model to non-traditional venues is balance — you’ll need to balance a high quality of food with a quick turnaround. You may also have to balance guests who are entirely unfamiliar with your concept with guests who know and love your food already. This requires some adjustment to your overall messaging. An important component is marketing your food and service to people on the go, and the food and service needs of people on the go are much different than dine-in customers.
Whether you’re planning on opening in a college, food court, airport, transportation hub or somewhere else, your guests are likely interested in eating fairly quickly and getting on with their days. This begs restaurant brands to adapt — consider making some fresh sandwich or salad options that they can quickly grab on the go, and correspond your marketing materials to that. Signage can also be a powerful influencer in these situations — clearly direct your guests so they aren’t looking around wondering where to pay or pick up their food.
Don’t Fear Operational Change
In a traditional restaurant format, you have probably spent much time, energy and money creating a space that not only looks great, but also suits the needs of your staff. You know exactly how much counter space you need in order to prep your food, your walk-in is just the right size and your dish area has ample room.
In a non-traditional venue, this may not be the case. That’s not to say that you will absolutely not have a good setup, but it’s best to air on the side of caution and prepare yourself for different scenarios. You might be in a shared space – this could mean just sharing coolers, freezers and storage, or prep space, washing spots and service areas.
Be Open to Adjusting Your Service Model
You’ll also have to consider your labor needs. You may not need to hire food runners or wait staff, and your kitchen crew might need to be larger or smaller depending on the space and volume. Counter models or pickup windows are more common in non-traditional venues, which can change the way you serve customers.
While this will take some getting used to, you’ll likely be able to budget less for labor costs with a reduced staff. Be sure to put everything in writing, and create a new operations manual for your non-traditional sites. You may be able to pull from your existing employee handbook, but the rules have changed — you need to accommodate for that.
Consider Altering Your Food Production Format
As we already discussed, the food and service needs of people on the go are much different than dine-in customers. This will undoubtedly affect the way your kitchen team preps, cooks and serves food. You’ll likely have to produce food at an increased rate in smaller quarters, but this is no reason to quash your normally high standard of food and service.
Customers are no longer willing to accept shoddy product simply because they’re dining in the airport or the mall — in fact, in recent years, big-name restaurateurs such as Rick Bayless, Gordon Ramsay and Michael Lomonaco have opened airport restaurants that have gotten legitimate critical acclaim. Guests hold their food in high regard, no matter the format, which means that restaurants need to step up their game or lose customers to competitors that are mere feet away.
Prioritize Brand Expression
It can be difficult to give the same look and feel of your traditional restaurant in a space that is notably smaller with a completely different ambiance — but brand communications are still important, no matter the venue. However, in a non-traditional space, you may be subject to the facility’s design standards before your own. This can be a subtle change, or it can drastically alter the way your brand looks.
It’s important that your guests feel the continuity from the places they’ve grown to love to a convenient way to get the same quality of food in a faster setting. This can be enhanced by brand messaging — take a good look at the messages you’re sending to guests. Is your overall theme a come-and-stay-awhile type of feel? You might want to highlight your service instead, as that model will likely be adjusted for non-traditional.
In a non-traditional space, your customers are only exposed to a small part of your overall customer experience, so make the most of your branding on menus, signs, printed materials, music and signage.
There’s no doubt that a non-traditional venue can be extremely profitable. With an often fixed mortgage or rental rate, reduced labor costs and smaller quarters, as well as a customer base that is constantly turning over, it can be very lucrative for brands that can adapt their operations and messaging to the non-traditional environment.
— Stefanie Rakes is the director of development for non-traditional venues at Le Duff America. In this role, Rakes takes responsibility for growing Le Duff America’s la Madeleine Country French Café, Brioche Dorée and Bruegger’s Bagels brands in non-traditional foodservice venues such as those in airports, universities and transportation centers. She brings a strong track record of success developing brands in these settings, having spent several years at Yum! Brands working with Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, and KFC in non-traditional locations.