Why do restaurants feel the need to modernize their interiors?

[usagora]

From time to time I see memes like this on Facebook:

I've always wondered why restaurants like this spend all this money "modernizing" their interiors and abandoning their classic looks, given the fact that it seems that the majority (including me) would vote to keep it the way it was. Same goes for changing logos, color schemes, etc. It just seems like a waste of money to me and takes away the charm and nostalgia.

Same applies to the exteriors too.

I currently live in a house that has been unchanged in terms of interior styling since the early 80s and I wouldn't have it any other way! There's something comforting about that.

 

[KaliYoni]

Because senior management has decided that a meaningful part of their sales doesn’t come from reactionary or relentlessly negative customers.

 

[KaiFiMacFan]

The top picture is certainly tacky, but that’s kind of the charm of it? It’s also recognizably a Taco Bell, whereas the bottom image could be anything; they all look like that now, Starbucks, McDonalds, all the new sandwich shops and bistros in my area. It’s clear they don’t want it to look tacky, like an obviously “budget” place for less sophisticated clientele. They want it to look “hip”, like a respectable eatery that attracts a wider range of people and social classes, even if in the end it is just fast food.

 

[usagora]

Because senior management has decided that a meaningful part of their sales doesn’t come from reactionary or relentlessly negative customers.

Not exactly sure what you're getting at here, but it sounds like you're taking a shot at me, and I'm not sure why. In any case, I'm not saying I stopped going to Taco Bell (or any other place) because of this. I'm just saying it doesn't make much sense to me. Did they conduct a study that proved that spending all that money to completely redo the interior increased revenue? Did individual store managers overhear customers saying, "Gee, I sure wish they'd change things in here." I doubt it. It just wish places would leave well enough alone. It's sort of analogous to what certain developers do with their apps--change for the sake of change.

 

[ovbacon]

given the fact that it seems that the majority (including me) would vote to keep it the way it was

I very curious to know how you know for a "fact" that the majority (majority of who?) want to keep the, in my mind tacky and screaming, design?!

As someone who owns and operates a hospitality business I respectfully disagree with you statement of fact.

Of course with interior design it is all about what you want your customers to do... do you want them to hang out and spend more or do you want quick turnover and have people stay as brief as possible?!

 

[dmr727]

Trends change. IMO it looks better now.

 

[usagora]

Trends change. IMO it looks better now.

Perhaps based on a scientific approach to interior design, but it's soulless. And it wasn't really a "trend" but branding.

 

[MindYourMind]

If modernization is what you think is the reason for restaurants to change their interiors, then the answer to your question is in your question and self-evident: because they don’t want their interiors to look what they think is old fashion.

 

[usagora]

I very curious to know how you know for a "fact" that the majority (majority of who?) want to keep the, in my mind tacky and screaming, design?!

As someone who owns and operates a hospitality business I respectfully disagree with you statement of fact.

Of course with interior design it is all about what you want your customers to do... do you want them to hang out and spend more or do you want quick turnover and have people stay as brief as possible?!

I said it "seems"--and it does. I don't remember the last time I read through comments on posts like that on social media where anyone said, "I like it better now." Almost everyone is agreeing they wish it stayed the same. It's just the impression that I get.

 

[usagora]

If modernization is what you think is the reason for restaurants to change their interiors, then the answer to your question is in your question and self-evident: because they don’t want their interiors to look what they think is old fashion.

But that doesn't explain it, because if there wasn't a huge customer demand for it, what would be the point of spending all that money? As long as it's clean inside, I really don't think people would refuse to eat there just because it's retro.

 

[redheeler]

First of all, get off of Facebook. I'm surprised people are still using that in 2023.

Second of all, who cares...even as someone who's a genuine fan of older design languages, I don't think I've been inside a Taco Bell in my entire life 😂

edit: They should keep a few around with the old design for the nostalgia factor though IMO. There's a bowling alley over by where I used to live that looks like it hasn't changed since the late 90s/early 2000s (CRT screens still) and I always get childhood nostalgia in there. Plus remodels are expensive and drive up cost inflation needlessly, especially with apartments as an excuse to charge higher rents – if it works, it works.

 

[usagora]

Too much negative energy here. I'm out. Discuss among yourselves 🙄

@dmr727 Nope, it's because the replies were getting personal and snarky, just like yours. Grow up!

 

[dmr727]

Too much negative energy here. I'm out. Discuss among yourselves 🙄

Read: gonna take my ball and go home because I didn't get the response I had hoped for.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Personally, I prefer the more 'modern' of the two images posted in the OP.

The orginal version looked cheap, and tacky, and uncomfortable, and would not have been anywhere I would have wished to spend some time, or, for that matter, money. It looked "Fast Food", with an emphasis on 'fast'.

I daresay that "branding" and what may be deemed to be fashionable may have given rise to a desire for a more modern, and yes, 'attractive' appearance.

"Authenticity" - and I write as an historian, someone who loves old things, - can be over-rated, for not everything that is 'authentic' ought to be preserved. Some of what lay in the past was underwhelming, and some was appalling.

On a different note, I find it amusing that the OP decided to abandon a thread he started when he discovered that nobody who replied to the thread was in agreement with the premise in his original post.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Read: gonna take my ball and go home because I didn't get the response I had hoped for.

You beat me to it, sweet and succinct.

 

[ovbacon]

I said it "seems"--and it does. I don't remember the last time I read through comments on posts like that on social media where anyone said, "I like it better now." Almost everyone is agreeing they wish it stayed the same. It's just the impression that I get.

That is probably because people on social media tend to prefer negativity over positivity. And SM is not actually factual in any way.... it just what you see curated to reaffirm your opinion on the world.

 

[eyoungren]

From time to time I see memes like this on Facebook:

I've always wondered why restaurants like this spend all this money "modernizing" their interiors and abandoning their classic looks, given the fact that it seems that the majority (including me) would vote to keep it the way it was. Same goes for changing logos, color schemes, etc. It just seems like a waste of money to me and takes away the charm and nostalgia.

Same applies to the exteriors too.

I currently live in a house that has been unchanged in terms of interior styling since the early 80s and I wouldn't have it any other way! There's something comforting about that.

But that doesn't explain it, because if there wasn't a huge customer demand for it, what would be the point of spending all that money? As long as it's clean inside, I really don't think people would refuse to eat there just because it's retro.

I would say that you have a resistance to change and your desire to keep everything the same, to keep it to what you are used to, blinds you to the fact that OTHER people appreciate change.

People (customers) change. Businesses change because their customers change. So, the spending of money by business for change ensures that they retain their customers. Retaining your customers means they continue to spend money with you and not at other businesses. Which means you make that money you spent to change back.

If business does not change, it loses customers and only certain kinds of niche businesses that never change will survive on a small customer base. The rest go out of business.

 

[swamprock]

One of the more popular Italian restaurants in my area hasn't been remodeled since 1979. Then again, neither has the clientele 🤣

 

[sunapple]

Any style gets old, that why trends exist. Branding can also evolve in a good way. The meme example was just not very inspiring. And from a practical point of view the interior will wear and tear and need replacement anyway.

 

[GMShadow]

Businesses get new executives and project leaders. These people want to 'make their mark', and so they commission people to 'launch a new look' so they can then point to it and say "I did this!".

Rare is the business that manages to pull off an iconic look forever. Even McDonalds finally had to change the exterior of their stores.

 

[ovbacon]

Perhaps based on a scientific approach to interior design, but it's soulless. And it wasn't really a "trend" but branding.

I actually find it super interesting that you feel the new design is soulless while the old design is, what exactly, warm??

I would argue that "most" people would think the new design is warm and inviting while the old design is cold and loud.

 

[eyoungren]

"Authenticity" - and I write as an historian, someone who loves old things, - can be over-rated, for not everything that is 'authentic' ought to be preserved. Some of what lay in the past was underwhelming, and some was appalling.

I had an instructor once (in the early 1990s) that was a young man during the 1950s. At the time I took his class there was some 1950s nostalgia. He was fond of telling us all that he had lived through that period and that there was crap during the 1950s (just like then) that was still crap 40 years later.

Nostalgia can blind people about the reality of things in the past.

 

[eyoungren]

One of the more popular Italian restaurants in my area hasn't been remodeled since 1979. Then again, neither has the clientele 🤣

Small town America. Grew up in it, spent years trying to get out of it, will only go back to visit and only then if I have a legit reason.

 

[eyoungren]

Rare is the business that manages to pull off an iconic look forever. Even McDonalds finally had to change the exterior of their stores.

Put plainly…most people don't like visiting 'old'. Unless 'old' is 'classic' in some way and therefore acceptable.

 

[MindYourMind]

Too much negative energy here. I'm out. Discuss among yourselves 🙄

I’m sorry you left. You made an interesting observation. Just one final post to your question. The explanation you seek is, I believe, quite simple. Preferences “wear out”, they have “expiry dates”, which is different for everyone. Some get tired of things that others can't get enough of yet..don’t think there’s much more to it..