HARPER WOODS, Mich. – The company known for fast food wants people to relax, take a load off, stay awhile.
So when customers enter Errol Service’s corner McDonald’s in this busy Detroit suburb, they’re greeted by tall, dark cafe tables near phone jacks and electrical outlets for laptop computers. High-backed private booths are padded with shimmery rust-colored fabric, and frosted glass partitions with tropical scenes subdivide the dining room into nooks. Silvery tiles glitter along the cashier counter.
Tucked away in an alcove is the restaurant’s centerpiece. A soft black leather sofa is surrounded by cushioned corner chairs and a framed modern art print, and on an angular coffee table of dark wood are leaflets from the local library. Service just bought a flat-screen TV to complete the corner. He’ll tune it to CNN.
“We want people to spend more time sitting down with their families, having dinner. We want them to feel like they’re at home,” Service said. “We want them to sit back, relax, read the newspaper.”
He’s infused the restaurant with flavor from his native Jamaica, occasionally bringing in reggae bands and giving away trips to the Caribbean. All the changes make the restaurant warmer, he says.
He won’t say what the undertaking cost, but he had help from McDonald’s Corp. The company’s re-imaging program offers to match costs of up to between $50,000 and $100,000 for franchisees who want to update and remodel, said Mike Perry, McDonald’s director of operations in Michigan.
The nationwide campaign started several years ago to boost sales at existing McDonald’s restaurants, and the goal is to make the restaurants “more relevant to customers” by giving operators the freedom to tailor their decor, style and offerings to their local environment and consumer base, said McDonald’s spokesman Bill Whitman.
Whitman said 650 restaurants were remodeled in 2003, and the company hopes to help with about 1,300 more nationwide this year. He would not say how much the company has spent on renovations, citing competitive concerns.
The Oak Brook, Ill., company recently tried some other ideas, like a McCafe and a diner with homestyle food, but they haven’t caught on in any widespread way. The re-imaging campaign is more open-ended, encouraging improvements and paying for chunks of projects it thinks will boost business.
“What McDonald’s is doing is trying a lot of different things,” said Gregory Thomas, a restaurant industry analyst. “Most of the good ideas for renovations come from franchisees, but it’s a touchy subject because it’s a lot of money to ask them to put down.”
Thomas said an overhaul that changes the look of a restaurant 100 percent is virtually assured to increase sales by a third.
Of the 390 McDonald’s restaurants in Michigan, about 50 recently have received face lifts. Perry said the Michigan restaurants that have gone through the re-imaging process are doing on average about 10 percent better than their market.
“What we’re trying to give the customers is more privacy, more space, more comfort, more warmth and more convenience,” Perry said. “We want to get people to linger, to enjoy us. We want a little less fiberglass, a little less of the fast-food feeling.”
James Williams, 18, of Detroit worked at the Harper Woods McDonald’s for two years. He said he can’t believe the difference the spring remodeling has made.
“It’s busier, the service is better, and it’s way more comfortable,” Williams said as he crumpled up his Big Mac wrapper after lunch last week. He said he stops in the McDonald’s as many as three times a week for a meal.
Change has been part of the McDonald’s business plan for decades. The restaurants that started out with only sliding take-out windows grew to include dining rooms, then adopted brick facades and added drive-through windows. Playgrounds popped up in the 1980s.
“It’s part of the business model to remodel,” said Richard Adams, a former franchisee and now a consultant in California who works closely with McDonald’s operators.
“The catch phrase for McDonald’s Corporation is that we’re going to be 50 years old next year, but we don’t look 50 years old. It’s never been the case that you see McDonald’s restaurants start looking run down at the same time, because they’re always changing,” Adams said.
Associated Press
A leather sofa and high-backed booths are some of the redecorating changes McDonald’s franchise owner Errol Service made at his Harper Woods, Mich., restaurant.
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