Restauratour: Buffalo Wild Wings' Triple Play

Buffalo Wild Wings’ prototype offers customers three dining experiences under one roof.

By Lisa Bertagnoli, Contributing Editor -- Chain Leader, 3/1/2005

Take an online tour of Buffalo Wild Wings Photography by Andrew Yates

Depending on their mood, customers can choose one of three activities at the new Buffalo Wild Wings in Irving, Texas. They can sit in a spacious, family-friendly dining room as they eat and watch TV. They can relax in a lounge as they eat and watch TV. Or they can perch on a bar stool as they eat and watch TV.

Having wings (and TV) anyway you like them is the hallmark of the prototype, which opened in October. The change to three dining “zones” from what was essentially one large room “makes it a much easier restaurant to use,” says Lee Sanders, senior vice president of market and franchise development for Minneapolis-based Buffalo Wild Wings, which has 307 units.

The reconfiguration also beckons to a wider customer base, says Mike Wilkus, principal at Eden Prairie, Minn.-based Wilkus Architects, the design firm on the project. “Our goal was to have the brand appeal to more of a base from college kids to families,” he says.

Bigger and Better
The dining zones are just part of a new design that puts the signature Buffalo Wild Wings look on steroids, as it were. The 6,000-square-foot base is slightly larger than the chain’s typical 5,600-square-foot layout. The extra space accommodates a larger back of the house and more flexible seating such as moveable tables and chairs.

Likewise, Buffalo Wild Wings stepped up the decor package. For instance, the signature black-and-yellow color scheme appears on the ceiling, where an acid-yellow audiovisual rail, which holds from 20 to 40 televisions, stands out vibrantly against the pitch-black ceiling. The AV rail, new to the prototype, also visually connects the three dining areas. “You can’t not look at it,” Sanders says.

A checkerboard pattern, another Buffalo Wild Wings signature, appears in decorative trim at the ordering counter, in the tile flooring, on the bar and even on the backs of chairs.

To retain the sports-bar look, the Irving location includes more sports memorabilia, such as team pennants and framed jerseys, than older locations. And, to maintain a sense of diner camaraderie despite the separate dining zones, the company installed booth backs that are 42 inches high instead of 48. Now, “you can sit in a booth and really see all the other TVs and patrons,” Sanders says.

Outer Limits
In another significant change, Buffalo Wild Wings added more color to the building’s exterior to make it stand out amidst a sea of chain stores in suburban Dallas. Pepping up the exterior was crucial, says Sanders, because municipalities all over the country are limiting the size and elevation of store signs.

“We wanted a unique or identifiable trade dress, so customers could say, ‘Oh yeah, that’s Buffalo Wild Wings,’” he says.

The company also added a dedicated takeout area to the exterior, arguably a fourth “zone” for customers, complete with its own door and parking spaces. The separate area is meant to increase takeout business, which now accounts for 15 percent of total sales, by 15 percent to 20 percent, Sanders says.

User Friendly
The prototype incorporates a few changes that improve operations, says Winston Wells, Buffalo Wild Wings’ corporate regional manager for the Dallas/Fort Worth area. More space between tables in the dining room and behind the bar makes service easier. The bar’s 20 taps are now centered instead of off to the side to streamline work flow. In the kitchen, redesigned work spaces eliminate unnecessary steps for staff.

Still, a few adjustments are afoot. For instance, the next restaurant, scheduled to open early this year in Maplewood, Minn., will feature a stained concrete floor instead of brightly colored tile. The concrete will be easier to clean and won’t detract from the audiovisual rail, according to Sanders. “All the action is in the AV package: We put our money there, and we want people to notice that,” he says.

Sanders won’t say how much the prototype cost, only that the final tab fell within a few percentage points of the current cost. The cost of the building will be franchisee-friendly by the time the Maplewood unit opens, he adds.

According to Wells, customers are responding enthusiastically to the new look. “Some find it hard to believe it’s a Buffalo Wild Wings—it’s so high tech,” he says. A seven-year company veteran, Wells says he believes that the new design can increase unit volumes by anywhere from $100,000 to $500,000.

Sanders agrees that the changes, while not radical, are provocative. “We didn’t take away the equity we’ve built in the last 23 years,” he says. “When customers see the AV package and the colors, they know where they’re at.

“But it’s like no other Buffalo Wild Wings they’ve ever been to—in a good sense.”