We have all learned the drill over a lifetime of dining out. We are greeted and seated, then a member of the wait staff takes our drink order and, over the next 15 minutes or so, our appetizer and entrée selections as well. During the downtime, we engage in stirring conversation with our companions. The meal comes; we enjoy it (or not), then we either opt for dessert and regret the extra calories or decline it and regret the lack of indulgence. Finally, after wrapping up any lingering topics of discussion, we pay the check and leave.
This system has worked well for years and years. And it is one that Nolan Bushnell has overthrown with the opening of his uWink Bistro. But revolutionary ideas are nothing new to Bushnell. In 1971 he helped found video game company Atari, which he then built into an $800 million empire during his tenure as CEO. In 1977 he founded the Chuck E. Cheese’s chain of family restaurants, of which he was CEO until 1983, when the chain’s sales reached $350 million.
When Bushnell conceived uWink in 2000, his intention was not necessarily to buck the conventions of the restaurant industry. He just wanted an outlet for his fascination with group games and figured an entertainment-themed restaurant was the best avenue to explore, he says. By 2005 he was moving full speed ahead with the concept, which wound up in the Westfield Promenade, in Woodland Hills, Calif. Last October uWink officially seated its first customers.
What those initial diners found was a restaurant with no traditional wait staff. Instead, after being seated, patrons use a touch-screen monitor at their table to navigate the menu and place an order, which is transmitted to the kitchen, prepared and then delivered by food runners. The downtime before or after the meal can be used to play any of a large assortment of multiplayer video games, to take a virtual wine tour or to watch movies, all on that same monitor. Afterward diners bring an access card that has recorded the activities to the host stand to settle up. The entire experience occurs at a pace dictated entirely by the consumer. “The response has been off the charts,” said Bushnell.
“For one, people say the food is outstanding,” he said. “Secondly, they love how fast it’s brought to the table. I’ve seen people who are shocked when a drink arrives within a minute of them entering the order. Additionally, everyone has fun with the experience. And finally, the aesthetics. We’re trying to provide a package deal of entertainment, right down to projected videos on the walls. It’s all part of the ambience, and it’s all flexible — we can change the atmosphere with the push of a button.”
In 2002 uWink bought out a Utah-based, publicly traded company in a transaction called a backdoor listing or reverse takeover. By taking the place of that company (now a shell) on the exchange and changing the ticker symbol, uWink went public and yet avoided the complications of executing its own initial public offering.
Bushnell would not disclose yearly sales figures at this time, and the company is not required to do so until late this summer. But a corporate letter sent to uWink stockholders in February does reveal some data. “Since we opened the doors to our prototype restaurant in Woodland Hills, Calif., on October 16, 2006,” the letter reads, “our monthly revenues have grown steadily from $30,000 in October to $87,000 in November to $161,000 in December to $185,000 in January ’07. With little promotion, we are currently serving approximately 3,000-3,500 guests per week in Woodland Hills, and these guests are playing between 50,000 and 60,000 games per week on our terminals.”
Now, the company having landed firmly in the black so soon after the launch, Bushnell says he has his foot heavily on the accelerator, with plans to open a minimum of six new uWink restaurants this year. Initially, expansion is to take place on the West Coast, though the company is not averse to expanding eastward and then internationally.
The aim is to maintain a ratio of two franchised stores for every company-owned one. Franchise fees will be $50,000 for a first uWink store and $40,000 for each additional unit. Included with the franchise license will be all the technology and the startup support. Bushnell says the company is looking for people who understand restaurants, not necessarily the technology.
Bushnell estimates that the cost to build uWink’s 5,400-square-foot Woodland Hills store was $800,000, with about “$200,000 in mistakes.” The square footage is way too small, he says. “We’ve experienced significant wait times,” he said. “A proper size would be anywhere from 6,500 to 10,000 square feet, with 8,000 right around optimum. What’s nice is that it’s a flexible concept that can fit into bizarre locations.”
But if all landlords greet uWink as positively as Westfield Promenade’s management did, bizarre locations will not be necessary. “In addition to being a great dining option, uWink’s media-based experience is a draw in itself,” said Sarah Richardson, Westfield Promenade’s marketing director. “Crowds have loved it.” The surrounding tenants, too, are pleased to have such a novel neighbor, Richardson says, and they frequent the bistro themselves, occasionally even holding parties there. “The atmosphere caters to people of all ages,” she said, “and due to uWink’s ability to easily tailor games to suit any environment, the restaurant would be beneficial in every type of shopping center.”
uWink...uWait...uWin...
From ICSC - May 2007 - Shopping Centers Today.
The International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) is the global trade association of the shopping center industry. Its 65,000 members in the U.S., Canada and more than 80 other countries include shopping center owners, developers, managers, marketing specialists, investors, lenders, retailers and other professionals as well as academics and public officials. As the global industry trade association, ICSC links with more than 25 national and regional shopping center councils throughout the world.
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