possible management decision paper: Water usage and costs

RESTAURANT RENOVATIO N DECEMBER 4 , 2016 Scenario About three years ago my uncle bought an older restaurant and bar, then took on a renovation in order for it to become more modern. The restaurant is now called the Whistling Pickle and it is located in a small town in Minnesota called Zimmerman. This town has a population of just over 5,000 and has a median household income of 67,902 dollars (citydata.com). The building was built in the 1970s and has been one out of five casual dining restaurants in the town. With the recent bowling alley being added near by , which also includes a small bar and restaurant , it has become more of a challenge to keep customers coming through the door. When my uncle first bought the restaurant it was out of date. The interior itself needed updating along with the exterior of the building. Throughout the renovation and being a part of the family, I was able to see what changes were made from the beginnin g. The restaurant itself was in good shape and the kitchen did not need much work. However, the interior of the restaurant was outdated and needed updates. This is where my uncle spent the most money. He added one big bar on the right side of the restauran t and a smaller bar on the left. Besides adding the bars, my uncle left the layout the same as he upgraded just about everything including bathrooms. When it came to his strategies of where to put his money into the renovations some of his ideas were grea t but others were unnecessary. I believe he may have been able to capitalize in different areas of where he spent his money. If my uncle were to turn back the clock and be able to start his renovation over I think I would have considered putting money into areas that needed to be fix verse fancy décor. For the main décor, my uncle put most of his money into dark brown hard wood floors and decided to put dark brown wood on the ceilings as well. He updated the bathrooms completely and painted all the walls of the restaurant. My uncle also added new lighting but did not add or remove any windows or doors.

The bars décor is dark brown with some black accents and their tables throughout the restaurant are a lighter shade of brown. As you can see in the picture to the right, it feels like a fancier type of restaurant and the déc or seems more like a fine dining . Here is the layout of the Whistling Pickle: Problem s One of the main problems that we have with the Whistling pickle is that the current layo ut does not satisfy customers. W hen you first enter the main part of the restaurant you walk into a tiny space while looking right into the restrooms . This is not ideal as some people consider bathroom areas to be gross and unappealing. The wall that hides the bathroom entry way helps but does not cover up that fact the restrooms are still there. The other problem with the restrooms is the fact they are located in the middle of the restaurant which currently breaks up the flow of the building . According to Lorri Mealey, “customers do not want to be seated by an entry way, restrooms or kitchen entrances” (thebalance.com). Currently we have the left side of the restaurant designated a s the dining room and the right side of the restrooms designated as the bar a rea. The tables are surrounding the restrooms. The dining room area is also smaller than the bar area and most people that come here want to eat and enjoy the food , then just stop and get a drink. The bar area actually has more tables to eat at then the current dining room. Another issue I have noticed when helping out during restaurant hours, is when we have people waiting for tables near the entry way. I believe this is another issue that comes with the layout of our current restaurant. There is not muc h room for people to stand while waiting to be seated. For example, I have noticed that a family of five may be able to stand and wait for a table. B ut if anyone else were to come through the doors , then there is no room for them to wait as well. Also ther e is nowhere for our customers to sit down while waiting if all the tables are full at the same time. Another problem I here customers complaining about it the lack of space for a real dance floor when the DJ arrives on the weekends. This is just another problem when it comes to the layout of the restaurant. I also noticed the lack of interior décor when it comes to our pickle theme we should be presenting . The ceiling are also low and dark so it feels a little uninviting. This is a problem because we are losing out on customers that may not believe our restaurant is any different than the one down the street or unique enough to travel too . Solutions If we could go back in time and start the renovations from scratch I think we could have used our money i n better ways. This would have be en a way to make our restaurant flow better and have our customers enjoy their experience. However since we cannot go back and change what we did in the past, we can still make new renovations today . If we do it correctly , I believe it would bring in more customers. According to Projects A to Z, the average person spends renovating the interior of a restaurant is 100,000 dollars. So when it comes to spending money in the right way, I would think moving forward it is the right solution. The first thing that would be suggested is to move the location of the restrooms to the back left of our restaurant. It is not ideal to have the bathrooms placed right in front of the entry way. It also splits up the res taurant creating a terrible flow. I f the restrooms are located near the back of our restaurant , then they are located away from the main eating areas and entrance . In our case, moving the restrooms is key to a successful floor plan . With the bathrooms lo cated in the back also allo ws for a better impression when entering the building. The entrance is an important part to a restaurant as it gives off a first impression of what our Whistling Pickle is all about. If we do not create a bigger entrance or a pla ce for people to sit down while they wait , we may l oose on customers. W ith the new location of the restrooms we can create a larger entrance. We can cre ate a wall to designate the new entrance area by connecting the former wall that hid the bathroom entran ce. This would create a more private area for when guest come in and wait to be seated. The new wall would also hide the kitchen entrance. When it comes to the new layout of where the restrooms would be located it also opens up our restaurant as a whole. But to have even more room, it is suggested to remove the bar on the left side of the restaurant. Since no one is using that bar and it is rarely staffed , it is a waste of space and needs to be removed. When it is removed , it will allow for more seating an d op en up space throughout the building . There would be more room for a larger dance floor when the DJ is here on the weekends which many customer would enjoy. Here is the solution to the layout issues: The main décor items that should be implemented during a new renovation should include a new ceiling, an ac cent wall of a green color and more pops of green throughout. There should be more pictures of pickles on the wall or pictures that go along with overall theme of our restaurant. Fo r example, the hard wood ceilings were not necessary in your first renovation because they made the ceilings seem lower. The solution to this problem is to take everything off that covers up all the duck work and anything else that is usually covered up by the ceiling. Then you can paint everything one color in order to create the feeling of a larger ceiling. This design is a huge trend for an industrial look. The picture on the right shows what a painted open ceiling would look like and how it really can open a space up. It is important to continue the green accents throughout our restaurant as well because it creates a theme that differs from the rest of the restaurants in town. According to Lorri Mealey, “when it comes to gaining new customers it is im portant to have a good theme throughout , you can use signs, music, lighting, awnings and flowers to make an attractive restaurant entrance” (the Balance). This quote is all about being able to impress the customer . S o with our new interior designs , we can receive more customers and have our current customers coming back for more. Another solution would be to add booths with a nice lo oking green fabric or just add some pops of color that bring together a pickled theme. Recommendations Our customers would be more satisfied with the layout if we moved the restrooms in the back corner of the restaurant. It creates better flow and is away from the main entrance and eating areas. However, the cost of changing the location of the bathrooms would be expensi ve . W e would not want to spend that much money in order to create a better flow. I would recommend relocating the main entrance to the far right side of the building. It would be located away from the restrooms and the first thing when you walk in to the restaurant would be a bar not the bathrooms. There would also be room to put a few benches in for people to sit down while they wait. I t wou ld be located far from both the bathroom and kitchen entry ways. I think we should also remove the bar on the lef t side of the restaurant because there is already larger bar on the right side of the building where more people gather. This bar on the left is never being used and is taking up space where there could be more seating added. With the new entrance being re located , this can be done. Also we could move the storage area near the kitc hen. This would be in replace of the bar so that more seating can be placed around the outside of the newly built walls of the storage closest. With the new entrance on the right side of the building we would take the current DJ area away and replace it where the old entrance was located. When the weekend does arrive the DJ will be in the center of the building . W e can then move the tables for a larger dance floor that customers ca n enjoy even more. Since the restrooms cannot be moved because of the high expense , I recommend building a wall to close of f the right side of one of the entrances to the bathrooms . This would then leave only the left side to enter the restrooms so that i t appears that the bathrooms are not in the center of the restaurant. The customers would then have to walk around to the left side of the restrooms and enter from this point . It would feel as if the bathrooms are not in the middle of where people are eati ng. Here is my recommend ation layout with the new entry way: Ken Blanchard, the author of Raving Fans, discusses the importance of satisfying the customer so they keep coming back and bringing more people back with them. I think this can be done through décor. I highly recommend adding accent walls of green or different kinds of pictures of pickles. I would like to see booths as well because if giv es customers an option to be able to have a choice of what type of table they would like to sit at. A dding a pop of green to the booths would help to continue with the overall pickled theme. Works Cited "AVERAGE COST of Restaurant Renovation." Projects A to Z Commercial / Restaurant Interior Design Firm. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Nov. 2016. Blanchard, Kenneth H., and Sheldon M. Bowles. Raving Fans: A Revolutionary Approach to Customer Service. NY, NY: William Morrow and, 1993. Print. Mealey, Lorri. "Designing a New Restaurant? Keep These Tips in Mind." The Balance. N.p., 14 Jan. 2016. Web. 06 Nov. 2016 . "Zimmerman, Minnesota." (MN 55398) Profile: Population, Maps, Real Estate, Averages, Homes, Statistics, Relocation, Travel, Jobs, Hospitals, Schools, Crime, Moving, Houses, News, Sex Offenders. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Nov. 2016.