May 20, 2005
SONIC Corp. selects National Restaurant Designers to value-engineer new prototype nationwide
SONIC
Corp., known as America’s Drive-in, has selected National Restaurant
Designers as the engineers to design the restaurant chain’s new
prototype, which will be launched nationwide this year.
Durham, NC –
National Restaurant Designers, one of the nation’s only architecture
and engineering firms exclusively dedicated to the restaurant industry,
has been selected to provide value-engineering services to SONIC
drive-in restaurants throughout the country this year.
Founded in the 1950s, SONIC is now the largest chain of
fast-food drive-in restaurants in the country. With close to
3,000 locations, SONIC is updating its look systemwide by incorporating
neon, tensile, metal cladding, and other bright, colorful
elements. National Restaurant Designers (NRD) will be responsible
for evaluating these changes to determine the best economical
alternatives for each piece.
National Restaurant Designers first became involved with SONIC
Corp. through a franchisee, who recommended the firm to corporate
executives. When SONIC began soliciting proposals for a new
design, NRD was originally selected to provide concept development
services, along with another firm.
After presenting the proposed concept to SONIC corporate
executives and the Franchise Advisory Board, however, the company
decided to use a concept that was created internally. NRD will
now be responsible for value-engineering SONIC’s two prototypes: one to
be used for new locations and another to provide customized remodeling
for existing locations.
“We are very excited to be involved with a project of this scope
for an internationally-recognized restaurant chain like SONIC,” said
Enrique (Tony) A. Hirst, AIA, partner at NRD. “With our expertise
in restaurant design and engineering, we are confident that we can
create an economically-feasible design for SONIC to easily incorporate
into all existing and new locations.”
National Restaurant Designers (www.restaurant-designer.com)
has crafted a niche in the hospitality industry as the only
full-service architecture and engineering firm that works solely with
restaurants and has licenses throughout the country. Formed in
March 2004 as a division of Lehmann Mehler Hirst Thornton Associates,
PA (LMHT) – a Durham-based architectural and engineering firm that was
founded in 1978 – NRD is credited with achieving record sales growth
for the company. The agreement with SONIC Corp. will contribute
to another record-setting year, NRD officials project.
Over the
past year, NRD’s sales escalated swiftly with accounts like Hooter’s,
D.L. Roger’s, R.J. Gator’s, McDonald’s, TGI Friday’s, Boston Market,
Golden Corral and International House of Pancakes (IHOP). In
2005, NRD’s unique specialization also attracted the attention of the
Mexico’s largest restaurant company, Grupo Anderson’s, which selected
NRD to design the new Señor Frog’s restaurants in the United States.
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Media Contact:
Quantified Marketing Group
407.936.1010
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