Saladworks unveiled its newly designed restaurant buildout first at the new Charlotte restaurant on September 9, to be followed by all new restaurant openings thereafter.

“In addition to aesthetically-pleasing form elements like Instagram Walls and Manifest Walls, we’re redesigning for function too, such as the mechanically-fastened floor specifications, mounted digital menu boards and total restaurant layout reconfiguration,” says Mark Mears, Chief Marketing Officer of Saladworks. “While strategically saving buildout costs in the process, we’re honing into the Saladworks experience as part of our new ‘BE Original’ positioning, helping guests fulfill their passion and live their best lives.”

Saladworks updated restaurant design treatments in its new Charlotte location illustrates the healthy, active lifestyles of guests who’ve come to love the brand – highlighting their originality via visually engaging elements. One example is a “WOW” Wall where a guest can stand in front of this image and share their photo on Instagram. Also, a Saladworks Manifesto is placed prominently to signify the relevance of its new BE Original brand positioning celebrating the uniqueness and originality of every guest.

In terms of buildout, Charlotte is the first to roll out strategically chosen cost-saving structure and design elements. These include converting flooring into clear-coated concrete, which will save roughly $10,000 per restaurant, mounted digital menu boards to illuminate the many options and save roughly $1,300 per restaurant, as well as chair rail, restroom hallway, ladder and paint changes – all to wow customers and optimize refreshing senses.

First in Charlotte and for every new location moving forward, Saladworks has value engineered its buildout to save each restaurant roughly $60,000 – $80,000 without changing the total footprint. Each restaurant will have an average of six more seats, furthering its impressive sales-to-buildout ratio of more than 2:1, via reducing the back of house and serving lines. This improving ratio and reduced buildout cost shortens the payback period for franchisees.

“The cost to buildout has significantly decreased since I made it a focus area two years ago with our restaurants, and it’s saving everyone money, including our franchisees most of all,” says Eric Lavinder, VP of Development for Saladworks. “We’re not cutting corners in the process either. We’re just being more efficient and selective with equipment, lights, flooring and the like to actually enhance aesthetics and guests’ experience too. All the small buildout pieces we’re adjusting, down to a rail selection, add up to big savings for our franchise owners.”