Newk’s Eatery will debut a new prototypical look for the fast-casual chain with the opening Monday of a restaurant in Lafayette, La.
The Jackson, Miss.-based Newk’s said its “Generation Two” design is aimed at new markets and prepares the brand for adapting to planned changes in the future such as digital menu boards and expanded grab-and-go takeout areas. The company now has 85 restaurants.
“This redesign took about a year,” Rachael Myrick, Newk’s building and design project manager, told Nation’s Restaurant News Friday. “When I walked in yesterday, it was like Christmas Day. It’s the use of texture versus décor to make the space come to life.”
The Lafayette unit includes more upscale finishes such as solid-surface countertops, brick, ceiling soffits and pendant lighting, she said.
“We’ve experienced an evolution over the past year as we’ve expanded our corporate and franchise operations,” said Chris Newcomb, Newk’s co-founder, president and CEO, said in a statement. “The new design is the next step, delivering an experience to our growing customer base that reflects our philosophy that fast casual and culinary can be great partners.”
Myrick said the new 4,200-square-foot Lafayette restaurant occupies a smaller footprint than a typical Newk’s Eatery. “This particular unit is a little smaller than our average 4,500 square feet,” said Myrick. However, she said the designers were able to retain the typical 140 seats, which is the minimum for the brand.
“It was important to create a space where our loyal fans could still feel as if they were in a Newk’s,” she said. “We didn’t want them to come in to a totally new design.”
That was accomplished by retaining key design features, with the condiment round table, the serve-yourself beverage station and the grab-and-go area, she said. Small modifications were added, such as a ceiling element above the condiment table with pendant lighting to draw more attention to it, Myrick added.
The concept’s color palette was updated with Newk’s signature red complemented by slightly muted versions of the greens and yellows found in the fresh produce used in the menu items, she said.
The new layout also creates seating zones, with booth seating, regular tables and bar-height versions for lunch diners. “We’ve also added a community table, which is new for us,” she said. The company plans to offer more booth-style seating in future units, Myrick said. “We’ve heard a lot of feedback from our guests, and they like that booth seating,” she said. “We’ve definitely increased that amount of seating.”
Artwork in the new restaurant also is being customized with a large-scale “hero” painting with the word “Lafayette.”
“We’re also testing out a digital marketing screen,” Myrick said. That screen is flanked by architectural elements planted with live herb plants. “We’re not quite ready to go into the digital menu boards yet,” she said, but the test provides for some new point-of-purchase marketing. “That brings that fresh aspect of our brand to the guest.”
Myrick said in the first quarter of 2016, Newk’s plans to do a full digital menu test in one of the company-owned restaurants. “This is a baby step toward doing that,” she added.
Tile in the kitchen has been moved from six-by-six-inch porcelain squares to a large rectangular subway-style tile, Myrick said.
Newk’s has also expanded the reach-in refrigeration in the grab-and-go area from a four-foot-wide installation to a six-foot-wide cooler. “We’re seeing our grab-and-go sales expand,” she said. Most units have two point-of-sale stations, with a third that can be added in busy take-out areas, such as Baton Rouge.
The company has noted that grab-and-go items account for 5 percent to 6 percent of a Newk’s sales. Catering is another 8 percent. The chain has a selection of beer and wine for customers who want to take their time at dinner. Unit volumes are about $2 million per location.
The new designed debuting in Lafayette will also be used in a second new restaurant set to open in Cary, N.C., later this year, the company said.
Newk’s was founded in February 2004, with the first unit opening in Oxford, Miss. Founders Chris Newcomb, his father Don Newcomb and family friend Debra Bryson developed Newk’s three years after the sale of their first concept, McAlister’s Deli.
They sold the then-67-unit company in May 2014 to private-equity firm Sentinel Capital Partners.
Contact Ron Ruggless at [email protected].
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