Visual Merchandising and Store Design | VMSD.com

A Q&A with Jerry Couvaras, Atlanta Bread’s president and ceo

Jerry Couvaras, Atlanta Bread’s president and ceo, talks about the up- and downsides of the economy, the design drivers behind the company’s “third-place” prototype and why pastry is so difficult to light.

Before we talk about the new look, how’s the bottom line?
I’d hate to be in fine dining right now. People are scaling back. We’re probably losing some business to McDonald’s, but not at the rate upscale restaurants are losing business to us. It’s a good time to be selling $6 sandwiches. Just how good depends on the region the store’s in. If you’re talking about a unit that’s in an industrial complex that’s just lost a major company that employed thousands of people, sure, that store will suffer. So are the stores in shopping centers that are losing their Circuit Citys, Linens’n’Things—the big boxes. The units in smaller strip shopping centers, where they’re the anchors, haven’t been affected much [by the downturn]. And the stores that have renovated are seeing improvements from 5 percent to 28 percent.

What was the motivation behind the redesign?
We had good lunch business and fair dinner business. But around 3 p.m., the parking lots were pretty empty. So we conducted focus groups. What people said is that they wanted a third-place atmosphere where they could work, talk and relax. In other words, they wanted a place where they could do the things they do at home but without being hampered by telephone calls, distractions and the need to clean up afterward.

Even the third-place pioneers like Starbucks have hit a speed bump. What’s different about Atlanta Bread’s approach?
Our design anticipates how different groups will use the space. We set up the work area to be sort of a sanctuary. It’s surrounded by a half wall so it’s secluded from view. Each booth has its own plug point. The tables are wide enough to hold a laptop and a meal. We considered how wide seats needed to be for the customer to be able to work and still have his/her feet comfortably on the ground. There’s more room to get into the booths, so people aren’t struggling with computers or trays when they sit down.