Restaurant Designer Helps Restaurateurs Rebrand to Compete with Corporate Franchises

New York, NY, October 14, 2015 --(PR.com)-- Former restaurateur turned Restaurant Designer & Consultant, Raymond Haldeman who’s exploits in the hospitality industry have been well publicized in such notable publications as Gourmet Magazine, Bon Apetit, The NY Times and Town & Country, is often face to face with struggling restaurateurs chock full of questions about today’s restaurant rebranding trend.

In recent decades big hospitality corporations have taken a whale size bite out of independently owned restaurant hides. The pendulum is staring to swing back however as bold and creative entrepreneurial rebrands are enticing a younger hip audience, who grew up eating in chain restaurants into their establishments to aspire to something more original and engaging.

As with running a restaurant operation, restaurant rebranding is a comprehensive endeavor and owners must be honest with themselves when they assess their shortfalls and address the right strategy for an effective turnaround. A cosmetic make-over and name change will not improve a restaurant’s image if the the food and service still lack consistency. However, in the face of strong competition from corporate franchises, a designer-rebrand, when combined with improved kitchen function, the right menu, a price point that services the location’s demographics and an upgrade to servers’ knowledge & attitude can provide an immediate “about-face” for any operation experiencing declining sales & waning popularity.

Yes, a Rebrand can, in one day, provide a restaurant with an entirely new start. In one day, sarcastic Yelp reviews will disappear forever, in one day, cold food, bad meals and long waits experienced by customers sworn not to return are forgotten. In one day, rebranding is an opportunity to mold and craft public perception anew. This opportunity when approached comprehensively can put any restaurant back on the road to profitability and give weary operators a reason to be excited and optimistic about the future of their establishments once again.

This time around smart owners will align themselves with a design rebranding professional who is intimately familiar with running a restaurant. This crucial decision often determines the degree of success of newly rebranded operations as most interior designers, without having experienced the actual management of “day to day restaurant operations” unwittingly sacrifice function for visually appealing design. This shortfall can be costly to an operator as it can detract from the efficiency of the operation and marginalize the efforts of a newly trained and eager staff to provide the ultimate dining experience for the customers on par with the new design.

So, indeed rebranding does cost money, but this time the money will be spent wisely. Raymond Haldeman recommends operators remove any trace of the previous operation so restaurant patrons experience the reinvented eatery as new, valuable and exciting. By the same token, from a business perspective it is not only the best option available to the restaurateur but a bargain when one considers the opportunity to create a new income stream under the existing overhead.

Remember a rebrand is not starting from zero, there is no moving, the lease is in place, the infrastructure exits, the kitchen is operating, the bathroom plumbing has been run, the zoning is there, and the owner is now intimately familiar with the market. Now a concept can be developed by carefully and thoughtfully applying all the wisdom and knowledge gained in the initial operation and applied to the rebrand. Many operators are using rebranding and its promise to get it right the second time around.

Click the link below for a quick case study of a recent rebrand Raymond Haldeman just completed with "Before & After" high resolution images for this story. http://www.raymondhaldeman.com/before-after-high-res-images

Contact: Raymond Haldeman, 305-968-8855, rayhaldeman@gmail.com