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DEDHAM, MASSACHUSETTS | Tuesday, June 07, 2005
Designed in conjunction with Columbus, Ohio-based WD Partners, a leading branding and design firm, the new concept is intended to leverage DAngelos point of distinction � sandwiches and salads featuring freshly grilled meat and poultry.
This is a major repositioning for us, a whole new brand experience that is more relevant to todays and tomorrows consumer says Michael McManama, Vice President of Marketing for the chain of more than 200 company and franchisee-operated restaurants. Weve adopted a new descriptor attached to our DAngelo name, which focuses more attention on what our guests love most about us � menu items like our Steak & Cheese and No. 9 � and were offering guests a more inviting environment, featuring warmer tones, more comfortable furniture, an updated color palette and other attributes that invite them to dine with us more often. Editors: High-resolution images and interviews available upon request.
Securing a higher percentage of guests who stay on-site to dine will give DAngelo restaurants more time to enhance the customer experience through personal interaction, sampling programs and other gestures that provide a generally pleasing environment and inspire frequent return visits. It also creates the opportunity for incremental sales to guests who purchase additional products that they may not have included in their original orders, and from groups who previously may have looked elsewhere.
We want our guests to come in more frequently and we want to get more dine-in business. It helps take our brand experience to another level if people feel equally comfortable dining on-premise as they do ordering food for take-out, and were hoping we can also expand our dinner business, McManama explains.
Designs on Greater Profitability Standard features of the new DAngelo concept include a graphics package, interior and exterior signage, a bartop and stools offering single seating, a booth package featuring cloth and soft vinyl in warm color tones, exposed brick walls emblazoned with the new logo, an open, exposed ceiling with track lighting, wood floors, and other elements. The upscale positioning is rounded out with a comprehensive branding package that includes packaging, uniforms, menus, menu boards and other visual components.
DAngelos new design also adopts a food is theater philosophy wherein guests are afforded clearer, closer views of their orders as they are being prepared. The visuals not only draw greater attention to the grill but also showcase the chains recent move to offering freshly tossed salads.
In refreshing the design, the 38-year-old chain set out to develop a format strategically equipped to achieve multiple financial goals. These financial objectives were among the main reasons that drew DAngelo to WD Partners, McManama says, citing the firms Strategic Restaurant Engineering (SRE) division, which focuses on maximizing operational efficiency, as a key attribute that led to its selection.
WD applied its SRE process and helped us achieve a number of improved efficiencies, says McManama. We cut between 80 and 100 square feet from the back of the house. We reduced walking time. The sandwich-making process is now faster, and we have less wasted space.
We expect this to make a more attractive, economical proposition that will help make our corporate operations more profitable and add topline revenue to attract prospective franchisees. On A Roll with New Stores DAngelo began testing the new concept in several locations earlier this year. Most recently, a new DAngelo Grilled Sandwiches restaurant opened in Westford, Mass., on May 19, following the debut of two locations in late February and early March, respectively, in Westborough and Newburyport, Mass. A remodeled unit also opened in the Boston Medical Center on May 17.
Early results from the initial locations have exceeded expectations.
Weve surveyed consumers about their experience, and 98 percent of our guests who were surveyed rated us a 4 or 5 on a scale of 1 to 5 where 5 was best, McManama says. Team members in each location are ecstatic over the new, refreshed look and about the reaction of the guests who are coming in, and our franchisees love what theyve seen thus far. DAngelo will open its next new-format site in Enfield, Conn., this summer, and plans to have as many as 20 new-concept locations open by the end of February 2006. In addition to the new design, several of the new restaurants also are being used to test a variety of new products, McManama says. Among the menu items making their debut are a line of Toasted Classics sandwiches, as well as French fries, onion rings and pita chips.
About DAngelo and DAngelo Franchising Corp.
The DAngelo brand was established in January 1973 by a former affiliate, DAngelo, Inc., which operated corporately owned restaurants. There are currently over 200 DAngelo Sandwich Shops in operation as standalone units and in tandem with Papa Ginos, a sister company.
DAngelos strategic growth plan calls for 200 new locations in the next five years. Franchise opportunities throughout the Eastern Seaboard are available to qualified investors with minimum net worths of $400,000 and liquid assets of at least $127,000.
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D'Angelo Grilled Sandwiches
600 Providence Hwy.
Dedham,
MA
Phone: (781)467-1663
Fax: (781)329-8796