French
supermarket chain Casino has launched its first restyled “A la bonne
heure” restaurant in Avignon; the start of a five year plan to give all
130 cafeterias a makeover.
The right time for some food
It is remarkable that Casino removes its own name from the “A la
bonne heure” (At the right time) restaurants, but this is “because
apparently ‘Casino’ makes people think of supermarkets – not of
restaurants”, according to CEO Hervé Percherel, who would neither
confirm nor deny that this name change is a first move towards a
possible sale of the restaurants.
Casino aims at two separate groups in its new formula: those are
looking for fast food and those looking for a bit more time to eat and
drink. The two sides will be clearly distinct through use of colour and
interior.
Reducing the surface, not expanding the prices
Because of the use of relatively expensive materials, Casino has
chosen to reduce the available floor space from 900 to 600 m²; the rest
will be rented out to compensate for the restyling cost of a million
euro. This concept will also be used in other large cafeteria. The added
luxury will not be added to the bill: “Customers who eat in the
restaurant, will pay around 10 euro”, says Pecherel, “whereas customers
who opt for take away, will pay only 4,5 euro.”
