Time Tested

After a decade of tinkering, Taco Del Mar's new look is finally good to go.

Chain Leader

Lisa Bertagnoli

The interior of the Taco Del Mar in Federal Way, Wash., dances with color and visual activity. A sky-blue ceiling sets off sunset-colored walls and bright-yellow tabletops. A mural depicting sunsets, piers and surfers cov ers an entire wall. Vintage photos of buff guys with longboards, plastic sailfish, traffic signs ("Whale Watching Is Not an Emergency") and whimsical clocks cover most available wall space. A thatched hut covers a round table, and bamboo fronts the ordering counter. The bamboo theme continues with a bamboo "rope" that cordons off the ordering line; the poles of the rope are planted in tin buckets peppered with seashells.

Decoratively speaking, Taco Del Mar wasn't always this lively. Founded in 1992, the Seattle-based chain "was just a burrito place, with plain floors, walls and menu boards" in its early days, says Kevin Hansen, vice president of development.

That changed in 1995, when Seattle-area franchisees Jeff Masterjohn and Mark Cicourel became involved in the design. Eleven years ago, Masterjohn and Cicourel, who now own seven stores, opened their first Taco Del Mar in Seattle's Roosevelt neighborhood. They decorated the interior with kindergarten-bright colors and Baja memorabilia.

While a step in the right direction, that early iteration "was missing warmth and detail," Hansen says. Still, it set the stage for the current interior design.

From Simple to Sophisticated

Over the years, the primary colors have turned into a more sophisticated palette of oranges and yellows, with splashes of green and blue. The early design brought the outdoors in with patio umbrellas; that idea morphed into the thatched palapa. The ordering counter was bright blue, with footprints marching across the counter facing; the facing is now finished with bamboo. The 1995 design featured a smattering of posters, vintage photos and traffic signs; now walls are plastered with such memorabilia, including a yellow-rimmed clock featuring Carlos, a sombrero-wearing fish.

The vintage pieces provide a point of connection for customers, Hansen says. "People have found their relatives in photos of surfers," he says, adding that customers often spot a certain "Uncle Dave." "He must have been quite a cat," Hansen says.

Over the years the mural has undergone a major evolution. In the beginning it showed a simple sun and some cacti. Now it depicts a surfer riding a curling wave, a bikini-clad beachcomber and a pier, all shone upon by a large orange sun.

Older murals were hand-painted, but Taco Del Mar hired a local artist to create a digital template. It is less expensive to install and can be customized with local details. For instance, the mural at a restaurant in Fort Worth, Texas, features a Lone Star motif. And, Hansen says, one franchisee personalized the mural by putting his face on a surfer's buff body.

One-Stop Shopping

As the design progressed, Taco Del Mar began to see its effect on sales. For instance, in 1998, the chain converted all its existing restaurants to a second-generation look. "At that point we saw a significant sales increase," says David Huether, Taco Del Mar president.

And three years ago, the chain moved, and then redecorated, its location in Seattle's Pioneer Square. Sales doubled, to $600,000, on a $165,000 investment, Huether says.

However appealing the interior, Taco Del Mar still needed to standardize the design. In early 2005, the chain hired GTC LLC, a Columbus, Ohio-based multimedia com pany, to streamline the decor package. GTC began manufacturing decorative items in- house and also added a few pieces, including road signs, a photo of a monkey and a surfboard, and the Carlos clock, to the mix.

Such moves cut the price of the decor package by 30 percent, says Kim Schanzenbach, executive vice president at GTC. According to Hansen, the decor package costs about $12,000.

Plus, having all the items under one roof saves franchisees time. Taco Del Mar used to buy from about 20 vendors. "Now, it's just one phone call," Schanzenbach says.

She and her team continue to create new items and phase out old ones. They also "police" the decor package, especially with new franchisees. "We reach out to them, explain the [decor] process and get all the architectural plans," Schanzenbach says. "We lay it out visually for them where things should go." Without such direction, the brand could become "boiled down," she says.

Full-On Franchising

Maintaining brand standards will be crucial as Taco Del Mar embarks on a major franchising push, with 150 to 170 stores scheduled to open in the next year or so. The 207-unit chain is entirely franchised, save for a single company-owned location. The cost of the building is about $185,000; the value engineering "is pretty much there," Hansen says.

A few detail-oriented tweaks remain. For instance, the lighting package going forward will use fewer halogen lights and more compact fluorescent bulbs, a move that will save each store about $1,200 a year in utility bills. The tagline on the exterior sign also has changed to "Mondo Burritos, Rippin' Tacos." The former tagline, "Mission Style Burritos," referred to San Francisco's Mission district—a regional reference that most customers didn't understand, Hansen says.

Taco Del Mar can't tie the new design to higher sales or check averages. However, "without the look, we would not be as competitive as we are," Huether says.