McAlister's launches new prototype

McAlister's launches new prototype
Tags: Restaurant Design / Layout, Sandwich
May 12, 2009 - Valerie Killifer

From McAlister's Deli comes a new store prototype that features a smaller footprint, simplified interior dÃ©cor and a pick up window for carryout orders.

For starters, the prototype shrinks the McAlister's footprint from 4,000 square feet to roughly 3,200 to 3,400 square feet and is expected to reduce build-out costs by at least 10 percent. The 280-unit McAlister's Deli rolled out the prototype in February in Columbus, Miss. The unit included seating for approximately 100 to 110 – down from the 130 interior seats – plus a patio area.

The McAlister's new prototype features a smaller dining room.

McAlister's Deli senior vice president of development, Bill McClintock, said the prototype will serve as the model for future McAlister's Deli locations.

McClintock said McAlister's began to work on the prototype more than a year ago and that it will enable the brand to successfully enter previously untapped markets. McAlister's Deli is targeting several new areas for the company, including Chicago, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Detroit, Milwaukee, Cleveland and Columbus, Ohio, Pittsburgh and Phoenix.

"We're doing everything we can to set our brand apart from the competition," he said. "This strategy is not only going to help us in securing the locations we desire but also the franchisee multiunit developers we're looking to partner with," McClintock said.

For starters, the new units cost about $600,000 to build, significantly less than the 4,000-square-foot model that traditionally boasted build-out costs of more than $1 million.

"That's important because with other brands you may have to spend $2.5 million to $3 million to do the same thing," McClintock said. "It's possible a lot of these guys (franchisees) can finance a McAlister's through the cash they already have. These guys need to keep growing in some way or they'll lose their best people. They need to find brands they can continue to develop and make money, and not put $3 million into something."

Simplified decor also is part of the new prototype's features.

Weighing the pros and cons

McAlister's franchisee Matthew Bedwell opened the new model, the second of three locations he is scheduled to launch, in Columbus, Miss.

Bedwell, who has spent 16 years with the company, said the location is about 450 square feet smaller than his first unit and has about 100 seats plus a pick-up window.

"It's been a little bit of a learning curve for us," Bedwell said about the window. "And it's different from fast food. The average check time is five to eight minutes so things aren't going to happen as quickly as at McDonald's. We're trying to educate guests to call ahead."

While the number of seats in the dining room has decreased, Bedwell said the pick-up window has eliminated congestion from the dining room because guests aren't coming in to grab their take-out orders.

"Ninety-five percent of the guests that call orders in use the pick-up window. It has increased their frequency of using us for take out because of the convenience of it compared to other competitors," he said. "If someone pulls up, we'll take their order, but we also use that time to encourage them to call in orders. And we've had a bunch of folks pulling up just to pick up a cup of our tea."

The smaller footprint and pick-up window also has eliminated dining room congestion.

The smaller dining room also has decreased Bedwell's labor costs. It used to take six to eight employees to cover the dining room whereas now it takes about four. It also features a more simplistic design.

"It's a cleaner look than what we've had in the past," Bedwell said. "It's the same elements â€¦ we still have shelves and pictures, but less. It's a brighter look and not all the dark stained paneling."

Bedwell was part of a group of franchisees that helped develop the prototype. He said there are a few minor elements that may need to be adjusted for future locations, but overall, the store has "performed so well so far and is still on tremendous path of success."