Creating a Charming Oasis

Fast-food restaurants are taking their cue from Starbucks and revamping their d?cor to be more like a coffee shop.

June 16, 2011

OAK BROOK, Ill. - What do Burger King, McDonald??s and Subway have in common these days? A desire to compete with Starbucks on décor, Advertising Age reports. With Starbucks now the number-three chain in the United States, the fast-food restaurant chains are trying to attract customers with their comfortable settings as well as their menu options.

Burger King and McDonald??s have been retrofitting their stores on a rolling basis, adding flat-screen television and a sleeker seating design. Even Subway has been piloting a café atmosphere.

McDonald??s has been at the forefront of changing its look from hard plastic seats to something that invites patrons to linger. The quick-service chain is the middle of an extensive renovation estimated at $1 billion. The company is using a muted color palate, lounge seating and televisions to create more café-like décor. Eight hundred restaurants will be redesigned in 2011, with most of its 14,000 U.S. units on schedule to receive makeovers by 2015.

Meanwhile, Burger King started a contemporary revamp two years ago that features red and black, pendant lighting and banner partitions separating booths. The chain hopes to redo a thousand units by mid-2012, with 800 franchise owners already committed to the redesign.

Subway has decided to continue testing of an upscale café concept originally started by a franchisee in Alexandria, Va. The pilot program boasts 15 units now, with plans in the works to have an additional 10 by the end of 2011. The café design includes brick or wood paneled walls plus perhaps fireplaces.

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