PBS_Punch Bowl Social USA Today study

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Plan Study
From fast food to fine dining, business is up at restaurants

Enlarge By Kevin P. Casey, for USA TODAY The National Restaurant Association reports same-store sales rose in September for the first time in six months.

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By Bruce Horovitz, USA TODAY

America's appetite for eating out is starting to rumble again.

Three years after the $580 billion restaurant industry saw its harshest downturn in decades, there are signals that the worst may be over for an industry that suffered as people saved by eating out less.

"The glow is off the idea that cooking is fun," says Ron Paul, president of Technomic, a research specialist. "Consumers are returning to their old habits." Restaurant business is up in all sectors — from fast-food to casual to tablecloth. The dust began to clear in the third quarter, Paul says, when overall industry same-store sales went positive, following three consecutive years of negative numbers.

Families with kids started visiting restaurants in greater numbers this summer — up 1% following a three-year decline, reports researcher NPD Group.

The National Restaurant Association reports same-store sales rose in September for the first time in six months. "It's a substantially better environment than it's been for years," says Hudson Riehle, the trade group's research chief.

It's been a slog. The industry tried everything from $5 sandwiches to $10 pizzas. The driver hasn't been deals, but the economy. With about 1 million jobs added in the private sector in the past 10 months, more folks are eating out, Riehle says. More business travel and tourism are also helping.

Some are still adjusting. Tim Hortons and Ted's Montana Grill are closing units. The parent of Charlie Brown's Steakhouse filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. But things are improving:

•Upscale. After double-digit declines in 2009, steak house Morton's posted positive same-store sales for the first three quarters of 2010. "The worst is behind us," says CEO Christopher Artinian.

•Midscale. Applebee's same-store sales rose 3.3% in the third quarter. "I'm encouraged by what I'm seeing," says Michael Archer, president. "This has been the most difficult environment I've seen in 30 years." In early 2009,Ruby Tuesday stock was down to $1 a share and same-store sales had fallen double-digits. Now, its stock is above $12 and same-store sales were up 1.3% in the most recent quarter. "There's been a change in momentum throughout the industry," says CEO Sandy Beall.

•Down-scale.Hardee's, hit hard by the recession, is seeing a lift, with same-store sales up 6.8%. "From what we're seeing," says marketing chief Brad Haley, "it looks like we're in a recovery."

Punch Bowl - Social Food & Drink

We've been making great strides with PBS lately. With our concept fully ironed out, we're very excited about the direction the design has taken.

Punch Bowl - Social Food & Drink

Develop a restaurant bar bowling lounge concept

Victorian NY Warehouse

create an aged, warm, refined, refurbished elegant (in sections) environment.

grand hotel / lodge - lobby / hall that's been remodeled 3 or more times over the years with layers of each decade exposed.

Build a simple, sustainable and comfortable lunch and dinner restaurant with various seating arrangements in a unique atmosphere.

Provide a PLACE

The EU... The Ace Hotel in Portland... The idea here is to create an aged, warm, refined, refurbished elegant (in sections) environment.

grand hotel / lodge - lobby / hall that's been remodeled 3 or more times over the years with layers of each decade exposed.

Some finish examples: concrete floors, some aged mosaic tile, some terrazzo, perhaps wooden planking and we'll use areas of the existing crappy looking flooring that's in there now.. Wall and furniture materials may have refined finished woods, red brick masonry, cinder block (if any exists already in the building) and some may have rustic plank wood. A combination of modern light fixtures and older used gooseneck canopies, etc., will be applied. Wherever possible under the current drywall we hope to find red brick masonry for added warmth and aging. The more scars we find the better.

Everything blends together rather than have complete themes in sections.

Layers is one of our key words - layers of time and materials, heavy action and reaction, upgrades and band-aids, styles and craftsmanship, layers of economy and social currents viewed through today's kaleidoscope.

materials and era landed firmer within the Victorian NY Warehouse category as our basis.

Create a concept that will instill a sense of community and connectivity. This one has to be in…Vaudeville Bowling... Furnishings in Bohemian Style Decorating

PunchBowl Charrette_2

Notes to self: Working on the story and narrative and developing the identity has to be one of the best moments of the design process. This type of idea and development will be combination of gorilla design marketing and a collection of other well developed projects with similarities. (Quantifying and quoting them in the near future and extracting the people place aspects) Space planning started with the program and is being massaged by the ideas and opportunities of the site and demographic location. The Baker neighbor is a very cool collection of people with an urban appeal. Not overly gentrified and walkable. Broadway and 1st is heavily dependent on the automobile and bus transportation as an artery to I-25, but when you move one block off the center the residential mixed use neighborhood is 40 decibels quieter even at the peak of traffic noise. TBD-later... I'm headed to the Hornet to get a beer and watch the Rangers and Giants!