The Checkers restaurant on South Florida Avenue will be the test site for a new design for the 595-location chain that upgrades the kitchen and exterior and adds outdoor seating.
Construction is expected to start this summer at the Lakeland restaurant at 2919 S. Florida Ave., part of a 25-state fast-food chain that serves burgers, fries, wings and hot dogs.
The new design is part of a series of changes, some of them aimed at driving a safer restaurant experience in the COVID-19 era, according to Kristen McDonald, vice president of development.
“A lot of these ideas and innovations were already happening,” she said. “It just so happened the two worlds collided.”
Checkers has launched a new app and partnered with a delivery service.
Renovations to the South Florida Avenue exterior will include bigger drive-thru windows and an opportunity for guests to see into the kitchen to watch food preparation.
“We’re creating a new image that’s new and exciting, and opening up some visibility options for the consumer to see into the restaurant,” McDonald said. “All of those things are top of mind for the consumer today.”
The South Florida Avenue location was chosen because the Tampa-based restaurant chain wanted to try out the new design in a location that is “close to home,” McDonald said.
The new design is in the design and permitting process, with construction to begin in early summer.
Ahead of the exterior changes, the South Florida Avenue Checkers has upgraded its kitchen equipment and improved crew safety with amenities like a more spacious break room and more phone-charger outlets.
The South Lakeland location, which opened in 1993, will operate during the construction but may close early for a few nights.
The Lakeland Checkers will also see renovations to its outdoor dining area.
“We’re going to change the patio to make it much more bright and fun,” McDonald said. “We’ve never been a dining concept, so for us it’s interesting. We’ve been a double drive-thru concept from the inception with limited or no seating.”
The experience in Lakeland will inform further development for the chain, she said.
“We’re going to use the restaurant image in Lakeland to do a lot of learning,” McDonald said. “It’s intended to be the model for more of our re-imagings going forward and inform prototypes in new buildings. It’s really going to be the launching pad for what the brand looks like.”
The prototype is part of a five-year growth plan funded by a $20-million investment from Oak Hill Capital Partners IV, a private equity firm that bought Checkers in 2017, Franchise Times reported recently.
Checker’s merged with Rally’s, a similar fast-food brand, in 1999, and the combined chain has more than 820 location.
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