How does a restaurant chain that's a focus of hometown memories for thousands of people update its look? Frisch's Big Boy is giving it a try — using customer comments for the basis of its new look.

        Frisch's opens its newest location Monday in Batavia. This Frisch's has a completely new design and look, a prototype for future Big Boys. Its contemporary, clean design with some retro features reminiscent of old diners was developed with the help of Frisch's customers, says Karen Maier, Frisch's vice president of marketing. The company committed itself to intensive market research, using focus groups for every stage of the redesign process.

        Tom Horwitz, senior vice president of FRCH Design Worldwide, the Cincinnati-based design firm that created the design, says he rarely has seen a client pay so much attention to market research.

        “Craig Maier (chief executive of Frisch's) came to us with a ton of research, and they were very respectful of that research. It was a key component of every step,” Mr. Horwitz says. “He pushed us to not try to please him, but to please the end user of the restaurants.”

        Steve McGowan was the lead designer of the project.

        Not surprisingly, the research showed that Frisch's customers have a huge memory bank of associations with their hometown coffee shop.

        “The memories just flooded out,” Mr. Horwitz says. “The baby boomer set talked about having their first date at Frisch's, their first job, about cruising and hanging out there on Saturday night. And once you've won them, Cincinnati customers can be tremendously loyal to you.”

        “What was really strange,” Ms. Maier says, “was that people told us they really liked our orange and brown decor, when we haven't had that decorating scheme in years. Our (newer) design was not making an impression.”

        Customers also said that they wanted to come to Frisch's on several different kinds of occasions. They wanted to come with kids and not worry about them making a mess or noise. Other times they wanted to come for a quiet conversation, a business meeting or by themselves with the newspaper.

        The result is a restaurant design with two parts: a diner area and a smaller cafe room.

        The counter and stools, with their view into the kitchen, are gone. Big Boy is still there, not only in profile in the new logo but also as the familiar welcoming statue.

        The most striking new exterior feature is a glass-block tower that's lit from the inside with changing colors.

        The dining rooms feature curving walls and clean, contemporary lines. The breakfast and lunch buffet lives on, but it's against the wall so employees refilling it don't get in the way of diners.

        The new kitchen has three cook lines in order to move the drive-through line faster (it's now 30 percent of a restaurant's business.) The menu stays the same.

        After the new location at 2192 Winemiller Lane opens, the customer focus groups begin again.

        “That's when we get our grade,” Mr. Horwitz says.

        Before rolling out the new concept chainwide, changes to the design will be made in response to customers' reactions.
       Contact Polly Campbell at 768-8376; fax: 768-8330; e-mail: pcampbell@enquirer.com. Cincinnati.Com keyword: Campbell.

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