Jack in the Box is scheduled to open a newly designed restaurant in Pomona, California, the first of its kind outside of the chain’s new markets in the Southeast. And with its sloping, bright red roof and columns encircled with glowing rings, there is no denying that this is the restaurant Jack would build.

Jack in the Box introduced the new building last fall in Charlotte, Baton Rouge, and Nashville. the new design was part of an effort to build the Jack in the Box brand in the Southwest.

“Part of the plan to introduce Jack in the Box to the new markets, where they don’t know us, was to design a building that would stand out from the competition and reflect the attributes of our advertising and our advertising icon, Jack,” says Bill Motts, vice president of restaurant development. “Se we set out to design a building that had great curb appeal and was cool, sophisticated and fun.”

The new design has proven to be very popular in the Southeast. Focus groups in the area have shown that customers find the new restaurant inviting and view Jack in the Box as an upscale fast food dining experience.

“The appearance of our restaurants is one of the first things guests notice,” says Motts. “And in the Southeast, our restaurants have really generated a great deal of interest and have helped established Jack in the Box as a fast-food chain that does things differently from our competitors.”

Motts added that with the 50th anniversary of Jack in the Box quickly approaching, the company hopes to bring the excitement that the new design created in the Southeast to the chain’s established markets in the West.

The new restaurant includes a clerestory—a two story atrium at the main and side entrances—that bathes the restaurant in natural light, focusing guests’ attention to the service counter, where the to atriums converge. The restaurant also includes canopies in the signature Jack in the Box red over the two main entrances and the service counter.

The first Jack in the Box restaurant featuring the high-tech design is slated to open July 3 at 2775 S. Reservoir Street in Pomona. The chain plans to phase out their current building design and begin building new restaurants in the latest design by 2001.