Published in Restaurant Development + Design

Our design studio is super excited to be quoted in the article Designs on Dining: Retailers Adding Restaurants by Dana Tanyeri and Valerie Killifer and published in the Winter 2014 issue of Restaurant Development + Design.

You can read the full article in our Press page but below is a sneak peek into what KWDS had to say about Designs on Dining.

“All of the spaces are being designed with purpose,” says interior designer Krista Watterworth, who has designed restaurants for the Food Network television show “Restaurant: Impossible.” She explains, “It’s really about creating intimacy in the vastness of the commercial space.”

Additionally, these supermarket restaurants feature natural materials such as wood and flooring that differ from what consumers experience in the grocery space. More important, the dine-in areas do not reflect the design or experience of a food court.

“The way we live, we’re on the fly constantly, so grocers are creating a space where people can stop and sit for 20 minutes and make that part of their shopping routine,” Watterworth says. “It’s a great way for people to relax, and it’s also a great way to advertise products. The way that we market today is so much more organic, and I think that’s part of this whole thing. Our lives are becoming more integrated with our needs, both our commercial needs and our product needs.”

To combat the consumer mindset that supermarkets and grocery stores can’t deliver an intimate and comfortable restaurant experience, retailers continue to look for ways they can lead the trend, rather than go along with it.

 

Read the entire article at rddmag.com.