An interpretation of Perkins’ new express format. | Photo courtesy of Perkins
The 66-year-old family-owned restaurant chain Perkins Restaurant & Bakery is changing its name to Perkins American Food Co. and offering a fast-casual riff as part of an overhaul by owner Ascent Hospitality Management.
The overhaul extends to operations, menu, interior and exterior design and marketing, according to chain president Toni Ronayne.
The goal is to scale the concept for loyal fans while strengthening its appeal to two other types of customers that present growth opportunities: “Love to Eat Lee,” a current heavy user who seeks variety and experience higher, and “Mom on the Move,” the matriarch with a heightened sensitivity to convenience and value. She will be a particular target of the Perkins express format.
This variation will be a 1,500 square foot version of the Perkins concept, whose units currently measure around 6,500 square feet. The smaller stores will have only 70 seats, with a fast-casual service style in which meals will be served to customers’ tables by waiters. Ronayne says this latter feature will be one of the links to Perkins’ long legacy; Customer interaction with servers is part of that DNA, she says.
The express store will offer Perkins staples such as pancakes, waffles and omelets, but with a few products not found in the old format, such as portable lunch items. The prototype is expected to open this fall in Canada and franchisees are already expressing interest, according to Ronayne.
The new prototype for conventional stores will also debut before the end of 2024. The redesign will reduce the typical size of a Perkins by 3,000 square feet, for a layout of about 3,500 square feet.
It will feature the channel’s new name and accompanying updated logo, as well as a new design. Ronayne characterizes it as “classic, but more refined – something a little more modern and timeless, (a) vibe that feels elevated but not inaccessible.” We didn’t want to create a space that was too far from Perkins.
The menu will be simplified, but “not with an emphasis on takeaways, but on additives,” says Ronayne. “Anytime you downsize your restaurant, we need to focus on efficiencies,” including reducing the amount of kitchen equipment needed to produce the menu.
The emphasis on value will remain evident in the new menu, the president said.
In both new formats, bakeries will be the centerpiece, in keeping with Perkins’ heritage as a source of pies, cakes and cookies for on-site and at-home consumption.
The redesign is part of Perkins’ efforts to capture more off-site activity. Ronayne says catering has particularly strong potential, given Perkins’ strength in breakfast and research indications that fast food is booming in foodservice.
Perkins is the latest family-owned restaurant chain of any longevity to embark on a soup-to-nuts revamp. Cracker Barrel Old Country Store is in the midst of a rejuvenation effort that extends to its menu, design and operations. Denny’s began its redesign a few months ago. Friendly’s just opened a new prototype in Orlando, where the revamped Perkins will debut. Changes have also been made at Bob Evans, as segment leader IHOP attempts a co-branding deal with sister concept Applebee’s while continuing to work with virtual concepts. And Golden Corral is experimenting with a new buffet format as well as a fast-casual spinoff called Homeward Kitchen.
The segment has been strangled by fast food restaurants’ penetration of the breakfast market and their continued inability to compete effectively with casual dining at dinner. Meanwhile, a mom-and-pop restaurant sector dubbed daytime dining — epitomized by establishments like First Watch and Another Broken Egg — has created new competition at breakfast and lunch.
Ronayne says the time was right for Perkins to open a new chapter because of all the changes the 300-unit chain has undergone in recent years, including her recent hiring as president. Parent company Ascent also has new leadership in CEO James O’Reilly, a chain veteran whose past charges include Long John Silver’s and Smokey Bones.
The overhaul will begin next week with the release of new marketing introducing the changes to consumers.
“We are healthy and ready for a change of this magnitude,” says Ronayne.
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Peter Romeo has been covering the restaurant industry since 1984 for various media outlets. As editor-in-chief of Restaurant Business, his current areas of focus are government affairs, labor and family dining. He also serves as the publication’s unofficial historian.
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