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| The new look of Burger King. Photo: Pat Sullivan, AP |
In an effort to get more customers to choose dining in over the drive-thru, the country's No. 2 fast-food chain is revamping the interiors of its 12,000 locations worldwide, the Associated Press reports. Burger King hopes this contemporary, upscale look and feel will appeal to its biggest customers -- young men.
"The contemporary restaurant design incorporates a variety of innovative elements set to a backdrop that evokes the industrial look of corrugated metal, brick, wood and concrete," a Burger King official told Slashfood.
Franchise owners, who by contract have to periodically update their restaurants' design, can choose from include LCD menu screens, "Have It Your Way" graphics and a dining area centered around a flame-themed chandelier. "Drawing inspiration from Burger King Corp.'s flame-broiling, the 'grill-centric' design brings the signature cooking process to life," the company said.
The design, called "20/20", has been used in about 60 Burger King locations, and 75 more should be complete by the end of the year, the AP reported. The design is intended to give consumers a more "upscale" experience.
"I'd call it more contemporary, edgy, futuristic," Chairman and CEO John Chidsey told the AP. "It feels so much more like an upscale restaurant." The company announced its plan Wednesday in Amsterdam.
All new locations will be built in the "20/20" style, but the Miami-based chain's new cutting-edge decor comes with a steep price tag: between $300,000 and $600,000 per location.
Chidsey told the AP he thinks franchise owners won't have trouble obtaining financing and could benefit from a sales increase. Remodeled Burger King restaurants have seen sales spike 12 to 15 percent while ones that have been demolished and rebuilt have seen sales rise as much as 30 percent, AP reported.
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Edgy Burger King 20/20 Design
Burger King's new "20/20" restaurant design on view in the Houston suburb of Spring, Texas, on Oct. 5. 2009. The new design features industrial metal, brick walls and a flame chandelier.
Pat Sullivan, AP
Getty Images North America
Edgy Burger King 20/20 Design
Burger King's new "20/20" restaurant design on view in the Houston suburb of Spring, Texas, on Oct. 5. 2009. The new design features industrial metal, brick walls and a flame chandelier.
Pat Sullivan, AP
Burger King's new "20/20" restaurant design on view in the Houston suburb of Spring, Texas, on Oct. 5. 2009. Video screens and bun-like seating is part of the appeal designed to attract the King's most loyal customers -- young men.
Pat Sullivan, AP
A flame chandelier is at the center of Burger King's new "20/20" restaurant design on view in the Houston suburb of Spring, Texas, on Oct. 5. 2009.
Pat Sullivan, AP
Analysts are skeptical about the plan and whether franchise owners will indeed shell out the cash and see the sales growth the company is promising by getting customers to come inside.
"I don't think they'll change their perception," Morningstar analyst R.J. Hottovy told the AP. "They're pretty entrenched in their reality."
[Via Associated Press]
10-07-2009 @9:06PM donaldhurtle said... A FRESHLY BROILED BURGER WILL GET MORE CUSTOMERS, NOT A MICRO WAVED STALE BURGER>
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10-07-2009 @8:40PM CeeC said... Who goes inside Burger King anymore?
Just about everyone I know uses the drive through!
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10-07-2009 @8:49PM Tony said... Burger King is insanely GOOD FOOD. God I love choice and my 145.lbs frame has invested very large money in BK, and I am a very happy healthy Man.
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10-07-2009 @8:56PM TM731RI said... This looks like the same change McDonald's made.....and I don't like it at all. The feeling inside is metallic and cold and I don't go to McDonald's anymore because of that. If this is the way Burger King is going, I won't be eating there anymore either.
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10-08-2009 @12:10AM rich said... The new decor k looks very much like the decor of a fast food restarant I saw in an elevated walkway that connects the gasometers in Vienna Austria. The Europeans are way ahead of the US in 21st century design Bravo
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10-07-2009 @9:19PM Fat from Fastfood said... WHO GOES TO A FAST FOOD JOINT FOR THE AMBIANCE? IF I OWNED A BURGER KING, I'D SAY NO WAT JOSE AM I SHELLING OUT THAT MUCH MONEY TO SELL A FEW MORE BURGERS A DAY. THEY ARE WHAT THEY ARE... # 2.
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10-07-2009 @9:23PM FRANK said... They should spend more time & money hiring people that can prepare their product they way it was meant to be...
Like In N' Out Burger does & Like Burger King used to do in the old days before they started hiring only minimum wage workers that don't give a damn!!!!
I hope somebody from BK Corporate is listening!!!!
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10-07-2009 @9:25PM JCM said... BK ... get rid of The Plastic Pedophile!
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10-07-2009 @9:32PM SW said... I think it does not matter what change they make regarding the interior. It's just artery clogging at it's best. I do like the fish sandwich once in a blue moon. The most important change they can make is to get rid of the creepy plastic Burger King guy that is pitching their food !!!! That would help a lot more!
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10-07-2009 @9:50PM pam said... What Burger King really needs to do is to clean up their restaurants. They have gotten so dirty in our area, I won't take the grandkids to them anymore.
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10-07-2009 @9:42PM pam said... At least they got rid of the gay "king."
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10-07-2009 @9:45PM alan said... TRY MAKING THE FOOD LIKE IT LOOKS IN UR COMERCIALS AND MAYBE YOU WILL DRAW MORE CUSTOMERS BACK.
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10-07-2009 @9:50PM alan said... WEN I GO TO FAST A FOOD RESTAURANT I WANT IT FAST AND GOOD WHO CARES ABOUT THE DESIGN... WAKE UP COPORATE AMERICA AND STOP TRYING TO PASS THIS SLOP OFF AS EDIBLE FOOD
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10-07-2009 @9:54PM Sanford Leffler said... Please get rid of that hideous plastic king.
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10-07-2009 @9:59PM Carrie-Lee said... It looks cold and uninviting.
Great idea to do a makeover, bad design. Sorry BK.
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10-07-2009 @10:07PM xovolcom28182 said... I eat at subway, because I don't like eating artificial crap which mcdonalds seems to process these days. I don't even know what goes into the food. It's gross, I will not eat at those kind of places ever again. I almost threw up eating there and I feel worse afterwords. It used to be okay in the 90s and previously, but now all they do is raise the price exponentially, shrink the meal size, and take out anything that remotely resembles food. I hope those corporate slugs go out of business permanently.
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10-07-2009 @10:30PM larry said... Whatever it looks like will be improved drastically by getting ride of that child molester, peeping tom, serial rapist looking Burger King. Talk about giving you the creeps and making you lose your appetite! What have they been thinking? Someone deamed this up in a nighmare. Creepy!
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10-07-2009 @10:32PM Bob said... Unfortunately, Burger King seems to be the hamburger chain that is destined for extinction. They want to be identified differently than McDonalds and target the primary hamburger eater, young adult men. However, they have never found that connection. Their recent "square butt" ads is an example, and a reason that they need a big change in the executives of that company. Even this new decor is again off the mark. Looks more like retro 50's unisex to me. But the primary reason that the company is failing is because their hamburger is bad. No flavor, especially what it used to be, served cold, green tomatoes, and a ketchup dispenser that never works. It's a shame that the top guys in charge can't see what's wrong with the company. Or they have a plan to strip as much as they can out of it before it goes bust.
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10-07-2009 @10:35PM Tom said... The product at one time was wonderful. It used to be flamed broiled, fresh and hot. Now it is microwaved and digests into some kind of burger paste. I can only envision hundreds of boxes of some artificial meat substance comming into the restuarants and being freshly cooked in some hig powered microwave. Until they go back to a freshly cooked flame broiled fresh hamburger I will not ever go back there. They had a good thing going at one time and now they blew it. It is so bad they will end up on the list of deceased companys and only have themselves to blame.
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10-07-2009 @10:36PM Kyle said... Yes! This is what all restaurants needs to look like :D
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