Franchisee tries out fast food with flair
Customers seem to like the new high-concept Burger King near Exit 48 in Portland.
By EDWARD D. MURPHY, Staff Writer
November 14, 2009
An outdoor patio with modern seating is one of the features of the new Burger King on Riverside Street.
Jill Brady/Staff Photographer
A customer relaxes with a newspaper at barstool-type seating in the new Burger King on Riverside Street in Portland. The shop is one of two in the country to feature an upscale, more inviting decor with flat-screen televisions.
Jill Brady/Staff Photographer
PORTLAND — Lester Cox of Raymond usually uses the drive-through when he goes to a fast-food restaurant, but on Friday he made an exception and walked into the new Burger King on Riverside Street.
"Somebody was telling me that it was nice," Cox said. "It's pretty nice. I like the colors."
The King would be proud.
Fast-food restaurants are a dime a dozen, but the new Burger King is, technically at least, in a class by itself.
It follows a new prototype design for Burger King franchises, with flat-screen TVs, high ceilings and a screen to separate the seating area from the kitchen and the line where customers order. It also offers a variety of seating – booths, chairs and tables, and a counter facing one of the TVs.
It's the first of the new Burger Kings to be built from the ground up, said its owner, Larry Kohler. The only other one like it, he said, is a remodeled Burger King in Texas.
Kohler, who owns 27 Burger King franchises in New England, including two in Portland and one in South Portland, said he saw the prototype at a company show a year or so ago and decided to use it at the new location, a high-traffic site near Exit 48 of the Maine Turnpike.
The restaurant has been open for a few weeks, and its sales so far are exceeding projections, Kohler said. He plans to convert his other two restaurants in the area to the new concept, probably starting with the one in South Portland, near the Maine Mall, next year.
Kohler said the restaurant cost about $650,000 to build, about 30 percent more than the average cost of $500,000 for a fast-food outlet, but he thinks it will translate into higher sales.
Franchisees have the option of using a typical layout or the new one, he said, and there probably are places where the traditional design will work better.
Dave Lavigne of Windham, who stopped at the Burger King on Riverside for breakfast Friday, said he generally likes the design but could do without the television sets.
"I don't know that I like TV while I'm eating, but other than that I like it," he said. "All the other (fast food restaurants) look alike."
Both Kohler and Lauren Kuzniar, a spokeswoman for Miami-based Burger King, said the redesign is intended mostly to enhance the experience for people who eat in the restaurant. It isn't aimed at luring drive-through regulars to come indoors.
The drive-through is still meant to speed customers through the line quickly, they said.
In Maine, the Burger King chain has had a checkered history. Four years ago, the largest franchisee in the Portland area was Diane McKellar, who had seven locations. She said turnover in the company's corporate offices and frequent shifts in strategy cost her sales and eventually put her business into bankruptcy court.
Other franchisees echoed her complaints at the time.
Kohler said he thinks the new design will help his Burger King restaurant stand out in a marketplace that's saturated with rivals.
"Fast-food restaurants kind of all look the same, and this is just a little bit different," he said. "I sit near the entrance and customers come in and say, 'Wow, look at this.' "
Staff Writer Edward D. Murphy can be contacted at 791-6465 or at:
emurphy@pressherald.com
