Ron Ruggless | Apr 15, 2015 A picture-perfect restaurant design can go a long way to luring the sought-after Millennial consumers — both as first-time visitor and repeat customer. Established restaurant brands like Buffalo Wild Wings and Denny’s are joining such younger concepts as LYFE Kitchen and Modmarket in creating décors to entice Millennials. These restaurants are appealing to Millennials’ strong social drive with communal and movable tables for gathering, desire for food transparency with open kitchens, interest in sustainability with recycled and renewable materials, and attraction to quirky but functional décors with ample electrical outlets and even USB ports. Operators’ designs on the Millennials are not misplaced, as these consumers — generally born between 1980 and 2000 — possess growing spending power. “One of the largest generations in history is about to move into its prime spending years,” global banking firm Goldman Sachs said in a recent report. “Millennials are poised to reshape the economy; their unique experiences will change the ways we buy and sell, forcing companies to examine how they do business for decades to come.” The Chicago-based research firm Technomic Inc. recently estimated Millennials wield about $1.7 trillion in spending power, and they are closing in on the long dominant clout of baby boomers, generally born between 1946 and 1964, with $2.1 trillion in spending power. Restaurant brands are early in the adoption curve when it comes to figuring out how they can lure changing Millennial appetites as well as their expanding wallets. One size does not fit all when it comes to attracting today’s younger customers. Dennis Lombardi, foodservice strategist with foodservice consultancy WD Partners, said: “One of the problems we run into is that Millennials are not a homogeneous group, from the age bracket to the income bracket to the educational bracket. There are a lot of differences.” But one common theme was a heavy emphasis and interest in restaurant décor and how that affects the dining experience. WD Partners found in this year’s Consumer Picks survey, done in partnership with Nation’s Restaurant News, that Millennials weighed a restaurant’s atmosphere higher in importance when compared with baby boomers. A look at five ways restaurants are capturing the Millennial zeitgeist, from Modmarket, Denny’s The Den and LYFE Kitchen.Tables: A movable feast (Continued from page 1) Millennials love communal tables or furniture they can move around to accommodate social groups. Lombardi said restaurants need some sort of gathering place inside the restaurant to allow for easy socialization. “That highly social drive is neither new nor unique – baby boomers had it 30-some years ago,” Lombardi noted. But because Millennials are currently at the social stage of their lives, allowing flexible seating areas will drive brand adoption. “If you can create it as an iconic element, so much the better,” Lombardi said. Denver- ...

1. Ron Ruggless | Apr 15, 2015
A picture-perfect restaurant design can go a long way to luring
the sought-after Millennial consumers — both as first-time
visitor and repeat customer.
Established restaurant brands like Buffalo Wild Wings and
Denny’s are joining such younger concepts as LYFE Kitchen
and Modmarket in creating décors to entice Millennials.
These restaurants are appealing to Millennials’ strong social
drive with communal and movable tables for gathering, desire
for food transparency with open kitchens, interest in
sustainability with recycled and renewable materials, and
attraction to quirky but functional décors with ample electrical
outlets and even USB ports.
Operators’ designs on the Millennials are not misplaced, as
these consumers — generally born between 1980 and 2000 —
possess growing spending power.
“One of the largest generations in history is about to move into
its prime spending years,” global banking firm Goldman Sachs
said in a recent report. “Millennials are poised to reshape the
economy; their unique experiences will change the ways we buy
and sell, forcing companies to examine how they do business
for decades to come.”
The Chicago-based research firm Technomic Inc. recently

2. estimated Millennials wield about $1.7 trillion in spending
power, and they are closing in on the long dominant clout of
baby boomers, generally born between 1946 and 1964, with $2.1
trillion in spending power.
Restaurant brands are early in the adoption curve when it comes
to figuring out how they can lure changing Millennial appetites
as well as their expanding wallets.
One size does not fit all when it comes to attracting today’s
younger customers. Dennis Lombardi, foodservice strategist
with foodservice consultancy WD Partners, said: “One of the
problems we run into is that Millennials are not a homogeneous
group, from the age bracket to the income bracket to the
educational bracket. There are a lot of differences.”
But one common theme was a heavy emphasis and interest in
restaurant décor and how that affects the dining experience. WD
Partners found in this year’s Consumer Picks survey, done in
partnership with Nation’s Restaurant News, that Millennials
weighed a restaurant’s atmosphere higher in importance when
compared with baby boomers.
A look at five ways restaurants are capturing the Millennial
zeitgeist, from Modmarket, Denny’s The Den and LYFE
Kitchen.Tables: A movable feast
(Continued from page 1)
Millennials love communal tables or furniture they can move
around to accommodate social groups. Lombardi said
restaurants need some sort of gathering place inside the
restaurant to allow for easy socialization.
“That highly social drive is neither new nor unique – baby
boomers had it 30-some years ago,” Lombardi noted. But
because Millennials are currently at the social stage of their
lives, allowing flexible seating areas will drive brand adoption.
“If you can create it as an iconic element, so much the better,”
Lombardi said.

3. Denver-based Modmarket, which was founded in 2009 and
currently has 12 units, has increased its number of communal
tables since introducing the idea in the concept’s second
restaurant in 2011. Now, they are a distinctive element of the
décor.
Modmarket's communal tables have become a distinctive
element. Photo: Ron Ruggless
Part of the Millennial generation themselves, restaurateurs
Anthony Pigliacampo, co-chief executive of Modmarket, and
Rob McColgan, his business partner, are both 35, which is
considered by most demographers as the cusp of the age group.
“We just did six tops, and we’ve seemed to add more and more
large tables with each store,” Pigliacampo said. “The feedback
has been positive, so we’ve added more.”
A February Modmarket opening in Dallas featured a layout with
three 10-seat communal tables, all with bright yellow metal
chairs. “That seating usually fills up first,” Pigliacampo said.
Flexible group seating also plays a big part at The Den, which is
a growing fast-casual concept, often opened at college
campuses, from Spartanburg, S.C.-based family-dining Denny’s
Corp.
Greg Powell, Denny’s vice president for concept innovation,
said the Millennial-focused concept opened its first off-campus
location in February near San Diego State University. The
1,700-square-foot space has a large patio, and customers order
at the counter.
“A lot of the seating is about multi-levels, some low and some
high, and group seating,” Powell explained. “You see groups of
students pulling tables together and moving things around,
because they want to be with their friends.”
Denny’s is looking for another near-campus location to
accommodate a 2,500-square-foot version of The Den, Powell
said.Branding: Natural resources

4. (Continued from page 2)
Natural materials appeal to Millennials, who put a premium on
sustainability, the environment and companies that care, or at
least participate in initiatives that reduce business footprints.
And restaurant concepts are learning how to tap into that trend.
LYFE Kitchen, which was named a Nation’s Restaurant News
Hot Concepts award winner in 2014, features a number of
sustainable elements in its design.
LYFE Kitchen's living herb wall is both functional and
decorative. Photo: Ron Ruggless
“We’re doing everything we can to be socially responsible and
use recycled materials,” said Michael Donahue, who helped
create LYFE Kitchen. “We use LEED lighting ... and renewable
resources like bamboo tabletops. We use recycled water bottles
for some of our cushions and furniture.”
At Modmarket, the concept founders made sure to use a lot of
woods and kept elements simple, such as sealed concrete floors.
“Millennials care about whether it’s a real material or a
laminate countertop,” Pigliacampo said. “Authenticity is real
important. Fake wood paneling won’t work as well as real
world. Make sure there is craft and attention behind it.”
Open ceilings are also an ecological friendly aspect of
Millennial-focused restaurants. “We like the idea of the open
ceiling,” Powell said of The Den’s décor. “We don’t want to
trap the space.”
Kitchen: ‘Radical Transparency’
Open kitchens are a common element in restaurant designs that
appeal to Millennials, said Pigliacampo. Those and other
freshness cues are part of what he calls “radical transparency.”
“Being able to see everything that is going on in the kitchen is
important,” he said. “As a part of the design, we want to
provide that, from the full nutritional calorie counts on the
menu board to the full nutritionals on your receipt.

5. “Then you can watch your food being prepared,” Pigliacampo
continued. “That transparency is the best marketing we can do,
because it shows the customer that ‘Hey, what they are doing
here is honest’ and you can see if it resonates with your values.”
LYFE Kitchen also has a very visible kitchen and a wall near
the ordering counter that’s lighted and filled with live herbs, to
reinforce the image of freshness.Atmosphere: Uptown funky
(Continued from page 3)
Quirky, distinct décor elements also appeal to Millennials,
according to Denny’s Powell.
“The Den is meant to be warm, colorful and youthful, but with
some funky elements,” Powell said. “Denny’s is a heritage
brand, so this is a real departure. We have funky wallpaper of a
robot carrying food and a ‘deer couple’ with people in deer
heads up for a night on the town. There’s also wallpaper with
spacemen and kitty cats.”
Powell added that the design elements make the décor
photogenic, so Millennial customers can share their experience
on social media.
“It’s really to create conversation,” he explained. “Students are
taking pictures of stuff on the wall and sending those pictures to
their friends. From a pure design perspective, it’s about this
warm place to be that’s a little bit eclectic. If you’re boring,
you aren’t going to generate interest. If you have some funky
quirks, that’s how the Millennials talk to each other. They are
engaged.”
Modmarket sought the same engagement with distinctive
architecture, Pigliacampo said.
“In the media-saturated life of the Millennial,” he said, “we
consciously think about whether someone will be taking an
Instagram photo inside of our space [and] what … our restaurant
looks like in that Instagram feed. We want it to say
‘Modmarket’ without the words showing in the picture. That’s
more how a fine-dining restaurant might think about it.
Millennials care about aesthetics.”
Pigliacampo said that’s also a reason he and McGolgan decided

6. to use plateware and glasses rather than disposables. “They look
better in a picture than plastics,” he said. “We try to play into
the customers’ digital minds.”
Tied into those Instagram moments is the need for restaurants to
be designed with good sight lines within the space, Lombardi of
WD Partners said.
“Millennials want to know who is there,” Lombardi said, adding
that those clear views across the room have a flip side: “The
Millennial customers also want others to know they are there
when they check in.”
Experience: Digital life
Millennials have grown up with a variety of digital devices, and
Goldman Sachs calls them “the first generation of digital
natives.” So accommodating technology within the four walls of
the restaurant is important.
In many newer restaurants from Buffalo Wild Wings — a brand
that often appeals to Millennials because it offers a gathering
spot for sporting events — table-height USB ports and electrical
outlets are provided so that customers can recharge smartphones
and other electronic devices.
Powell of Denny’s added that, “Millennials love to talk about
where they are, where they are dining.” Many of those
conversations occur on digital devices, he said.
“As long as you can create that conversation, you’re in a good
place,” he said. “The design has to excite their imagination.”