McDonald’s planning a big redesign of its restaurant interiors worldwide. Half-moon-shaped booths, low stools, wooden blinds and flat-screen TVs are to appear in the fully remodeled restaurants.
Photo: A McDonald’s restaurant in Oak Brook, Ill., by Chuck Berman, Chicago Tribune
The global renovation and rebuilding project is expected to boost sales, traffic and brand perception by 6 to 7%, says Seattle Times. In 2012, McDonald’s plans to open 1,300 restaurants and remodel 2,400 restaurants. The cost of it is about $2.9 billion. The chain pays 40 to 45% of a franchisee’s remodeling costs for each restaurant, which is about $600,000 in the US. By the end of 2012, the chain will have completed interior renovations on about half of its 33,000 restaurants worldwide.
«We are playing a little bit of catch-up,» said Denis Weil, McDonald’s vice president of concept and design. «Styles change faster, and customers have a higher need for novelty, and their tastes change faster as well.» He also noticed that retail remodels need to happen more frequently. The point is, Weil added, that once a store has reached 40 to 60 percent completion of remodeling, consumers begin to view the brand differently, stop in more often and buy higher-end items.
The new McDonald’s restaurants will look more rich and stylish and is intended to gain broader acceptance for top-tier items already on the menu, like smoothies and Angus burgers, and better compete with the fast-casual industry.
In the US, a single yellow arch outside is being replaced the bright red, double mansard roofs of the chain restaurants and two- and four-top tables are being swapped for long, wide tables, tall bar tables and more modern booths.
Weil said that cultural tastes have necessitated different exterior designs by area of the world. But needs inside the restaurants are more common. On the inside, he said, major metropolitan areas like London, New York and Shanghai share a similar look, distinct from suburban or rural areas.
The company’s move suggests the so called ‘zones,’ including slow Wi-Fi zones for coffee sippers, fast zones at high bar tables, and family zones with booths where parents can ‘lock’ their children to prevent them from wandering.
Last year, McDonald’s, with help of , has redesigned its restaurants in France.
