A New Standard for American Steakhouses – Bloomin’ Brands, Fleming’s Refresh
Over the past several years, Bloomin’ Brands (the parent company of a variety of popular restaurant chains) has begun rolling out updates at Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse restaurants across the country. With support from Menemsha, these classic American steakhouses are undergoing a modern brand refresh that will enrich the dining experience of every guest.
“Things look great on day one, but trends change, and things need to be replaced,” Menemsha Architecture Project Manager Shaghayegh Osipov said.
We start each site with a standard as-built survey. We take note of the furnishings, which will be included in the refresh. This includes tasks such as counting chairs and noticing what kind of tables are used. These findings are presented as a ‘pictogram’ showing all the different aspects of the tables, chairs, carpet, and more. Each item will be rated on a scale of 1-10 and presented to Fleming’s so they are aware of what they need to account for in a particular upgrade.
The architectural scope comes next. Each store refresh is a little different, but because we’ve done the survey, we can easily and quickly understand the existing conditions and the extent of design necessary to meet Fleming’s goals.
“The design intention is really just to move Fleming’s restaurants to be more aligned with current brand standards,” Osipov said.
Current, more modern brand standards were realized through upgrades like removing wood paneling, making wine rooms full glass, and providing more flexibility for private dining and group events.
We helped Bloomin’ to think through the implications of every item that would be changed. If we aren’t doing a full gut, it is necessary to ensure that the new installations match what is left remaining.
Due to the complexity and intricacies of the existing structures, Menemsha had to lean into Bloomin’ Brands to foster the best communication. We had weekly client calls to track things and stay up to date on all aspects of a project. In 2022 we completed survey, architecture, and permitting for 7 sites. Moving into 2023, we have plans to work on dozens more projects with survey already completed on many of them.
Working with Bloomin’ Brands on these projects has been extremely rewarding. We are looking forward to continuing to build our relationship and strengthen the outcome through all of Menemsha’s offerings – survey, architecture, and construction.
Learn more about Menemsha’s multi-site and architecture expertise.