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Sunday, May 26, 2013
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McDonald’s reveals new look
by Gregory R. Norfleet · News · September 14, 2012
Kevin O’Brien, president of Creative Management, wanted to build a two-lane drive-through in the West Branch McDonald’s restaurant, and make more efficient use of the space.
But the total cost rose quite high.
“It was more cost-effective to rebuild than to make changes in the existing building,” he said Friday.
Word spread in the spring that O’Brien wanted to rebuild, but the goal of shutting down, rebuilding and reopening quickly meant taking time to synchronize the contractors. On Sept. 4, the McDonald’s corporation told Creative Management the project would begin Monday, Sept. 10, O’Brien’s Executive Assistant Keri Morris said.
The next day, O’Brien met with the West Branch restaurant’s staff and the doors closed on the 15 1/2-year-old building the night of Sept. 9.
The $750,000 rebuilding project is expected to reopen sometime in November.
“It will be more contemporary and up-to-date,” O’Brien said.
The restaurant’s exterior will mirror the McDonald’s on 1st Avenue in Coralville, he said, but the interior is more like a throwback to the 1960s. O’Brien said it reminded him of the set of Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In, with its bright pastels and circular motifs in the walls and furniture. Workers will also install a checkerboard floor.
The building coming down had lots of wood decor with framed pictures of historic West Branch and native Herbert Hoover.
Hoover will return in the new building, within translucent historic photographs filling some of those large circles and on large murals that contrast with the pinks and oranges throughout the dining area.
“It still pays homage to the (presidential) library and brings the (restaurant’s) look up to date,” he said. “It’s more of what customers expect.”
The exterior front will again face Parkside Drive, but the dining area will face outward mostly toward Kum & Go. It will move from the north and west sides to the south and west sides, with more of the dining area in view from the serving counter.
“That will make it easier to manage,” O’Brien said.
Seating will be reduced somewhat, he said, but organized in such a way to allow small families several places to sit, while giving, say, a sports team a large area to gather, too.
“We need to reinvest in our business to stay current,” O’Brien said. “To stay competitive, we have to be fresh all the time.”
Harlan Ferguson is part of a group of mostly retired men who meet weekday mornings and afternoons at McDonald’s for coffee. They jokingly call themselves the C.A.V.E. men — Citizens Against Virtually Everything — but Ferguson said none of them had strong feelings about the rebuild.
“It’s progress for them,” Ferguson said. “They know what they’re doing.”
The CAVE men years ago drank coffee downtown, but were attracted to McDonald’s because they could purchase mugs for free refills every time they come in.
Do they expect to return when McDonald’s reopens?
“I can’t answer that,” he said. “We might find someplace else.”
The new building, he said, is designed by an energy-efficiency firm and includes better insulation, an upgraded heating-and-cooling system and hand dryers which use less energy by drying faster.
“We’re excited,” O’Brien said. “We think people will be blown away.”
When the original McDonald’s opened in West Branch on Jan. 17, 1997, it had up to 70 full- and part-time staff. Over the years, new equipment and new processes have made the restaurant more efficient, the owner said, and now it runs on a staff of about 55.
“We hope that goes up because we’re busier,” O’Brien said.
His company operated three McDonald’s with the opening of the West Branch location 15 years ago. Today he operates nine, and he said he continues to look at “new markets.”
The current staff will be absorbed into the eight other restaurants as much as possible, he said.
When it opened, a Home Oil gas station opened next door. The two business owners felt they would complement each other. Today the gas station is now Kum & Go, but O’Brien said they still complement each other and still serve as a “gateway” to West Branch.
Residents John and Audrey Kofoed and a group of others worked with O’Brien to place local, historic photographs throughout the original building. So, O’Brien showed them the new interior mock-ups about six months ago. He said he was sorry to learn John had since died.
“I’m glad John got to see it before he passed away,” he said.
Audrey Kofoed said she was glad the new restaurant will still reflect Hoover’s ties to the city.
O’Brien said the historic photographs will be donated back to the West Branch Historic Society. |
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