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New Brand Expressions Drive Johnny Rockets' Growth Legacy better-burger casual-dining brand Johnny Rockets continues to fnd new ways to grow with new expressions of its brand that are both consistent with the original and distinctive in strategic execution. "Our traditional locations have a physical plant of 1,800 square feet and up, which works well in high-volume, high-traffc areas," says James Walker, president of operations and development of the Aliso Viejo, Calif.-based chain. "They are usually located in malls, entertainment districts, theme parks and the like. They are full service and have a relaxed speed of service where people are going for a good experience." This prototype has been in place for 28 years and has made Johnny Rockets the popular brand it is today, Walker explains. The chain has 330 of these locations, with two-thirds in the United States and one- third in other countries around the world. This year, the brand plans to take some new turns, debuting two new con- cepts suited to nontraditional locations. One is Johnny Rockets Express, a fast- casual, pay-frst iteration designed to ft in a 700- to 1,100-square-foot space. It's especially targeted to food court set- tings, Walker says, and touts new kitchen equipment technologies that will enable the Express operations to keep up with the high volume in less square footage. The other new prototype is Johnny Rockets Route 66, the chain's frst drive-thru concept. Route 66 demonstrates that not all spin-off platforms are smaller than the traditional. This will have a 2,800-square- foot space with seating as well as the drive-thru. Walker says the concept makes Johnny Rockets the frst quick-casual brand to have an integrated drive-thru that the platform is designed around rather than modifed to include later. "Route 66 is designed to be highly accessible and fast. It has a lot of technol- ogy the guest can interface with," Walker says. The units will contain ordering kiosks, but guests will also be able to place their orders from their desks at work. When they are fve minutes away from the restaurant, they press an app button, and the cook staff gets the message to start their order, which customers fnd waiting for them — still hot — upon their arrival. The technology will help from a consumer standpoint but also for labor optimization, he adds. "We're using the technology for quality, for speed and for engagement." Walker says new kitchen technolo- gies enable the culinary staff to cook great food fresh to order in less than three minutes. To ensure this process would work, the company built two pilot plants for testing. Only the kitchen confguration needed changing based on actual use of the equipment. It was good to discover this ahead of time, Walker says, rather than having to go back and retroft later on. Part of the process of developing the new platforms involved optimizing the menu. Any items that took too long to prepare or required too much storage space were removed, and the menu was honed down to core items: burgers, shakes and fries. The legacy sites require 25 to 35 front-of-house staff. Cooking is done in front of guests, and the back of the house is used for prep and storage. While the exact number of staff required 4 6 • R E S T A U R A N T D E V E L O P M E N T + D E S I G N • M A R C H / A P R I L 2 0 1 5 unit takes the shape of a small hut similar to others on the property. Like the chain's more traditional, larger units, it sells pret- zels wholesale to other concessions within the zoo, as well as selling pretzels retail. And the airport unit ranks in the top 10 of system-wide unit sales volume. In addition to shrinking the footprint and reengineering the equipment, the new platform stores feature a streamlined menu and use less labor. The larger units serve specialty items, such as sausage-stuffed pretzels, but the smaller versions stick to pretzels, pretzel dogs and drinks. As few as two employees can staff each location. For the future, Ferrill says Philly Pretzel Factory will continue to pursue this multiplatform strategy. "It's a matter of per- fecting the model and focusing on the East Coast, serving our franchisees with locations that make the most sense," he says. "You still have to do all the fundamentals of run- ning a good business: quality product, good customer service and marketing." As for the marketing, the new non- traditional units have a key beneft: In a traditional format, it takes aggressive marketing to bring people to the store as a destination, whereas in the new, nontraditional sites, they're already right there in front of you. Since introducing its smaller pro- totype option, Philly Pretzel Factory has expanded to 24 Walmart units and 18 units in entertainment and transportation venues. It operates 107 of its traditional bakery units and continues to develop this format, but franchisees now have the option of going small. MULTIPLE PLATFORMS