‘Craver’ worthy

Lochlin Caffey

How White Castle’s largest restaurant ever is changing how patrons view the brand

Interview by Michael J.Pallerino

Move over Disney, there’s a new castle in town. At 4,567 square feet, the new White Castle located in The Village at O-Town West, at the intersection of Palm Parkway and Daryl Carter Parkway off Interstate 4 in Orlando, Florida, is drawing cravers (as the brand’s fans are known) to the chain’s largest free-standing location. Just how big and how much of a draw is White Castle’s new Orlando digs? During its grand opening in May of this year, not only was the flood of cars in line for the drive-thru national news worthy, but people actually slept overnight to get a shot at the famed slider burgers. Eventually, the restaurant will operate 24 hours a day, every day of the week. With roots going back to 1921, when Billy Ingram launched his first family owned business with $700 in Wichita, Kansas, the fast-casual chain has posted a steady and dominant presence across 14 states. Over the years, along with creating a rabid fan base, Time magazine even dubbed its iconic Original Slider the most influential burger of all time. To get an inside look at the “World’s Largest White Castle,” we sat down with Mike Guinan, Vice President, Operations Services at White Castle System, Inc.

Give us a snapshot of the White Castle brand.

White Castle is a 100-year-old family owned business, with 360 Castles in 14 states, and a consumer packaged goods business that sells frozen sliders in the freezer aisle of grocery stores coast to coast. Known for incredibly loyal fans, White Castle even has a Hall of Fame to celebrate its most devoted Cravers.

Tell us a little about the “World’s Largest White Castle.” What are some of the features and benefits?

Our new Castle in Orlando is 4,567 square feet, and features a distinctive dining room and a kitchen that was created with crave satisfaction in mind. The drive through features a “walk out door” that allows team members to deliver orders directly to customers as they make their way to keep their day going strong. The challenge was the Florida location. White Castle locations are mainly found in cold-weather states. They’re built to withstand ice, snow and freezing temperatures. But what about hurricanes? Building the world’s largest White Castle was just a matter of doing what they’d already been doing, only bigger. But translating this cold-weather classic to tropical storm-prone Florida required a true team effort, which included design, distribution and application expertise. To deal with the weather and the state’s stringent NOA requirements, the team turned to Sto, using a combination of systems: StoTherm® ci and StoTherm® ci MVES with stone. Because StoTherm ci integrates continuous insulation, innovative water- resistant barrier technology and drainage features, it was ideal for dealing with frequent, punishing tropical storms and hurricanes. And StoTherm ci MVES with stone made it possible to match the stone and stucco design aesthetic of White Castle restaurants while maintaining continuous insulation and incorporating critical control layers, making it more energy efficient. At 4,567 square feet, the Orlando restaurant is much larger than most other locations. The bigger footprint meant more material, but distributor Foundation Building Materials Orlando had no

issues sourcing everything required for a seamless build, ensuring the design could be accurately rendered by the expert applicators of Rue Quality Systems. That’s exactly what Rue did, flawlessly executing the vision of MS Consultants to create a weathertight building. Utilizing one of Sto’s StoGuard® air and moisture barriers over the wall assembly, they sealed the building tight and employed the continuous insulation of the Sto EPS insulation board to create an energy-efficient building. They finished it off with a beautiful stone façade, courtesy of the StoTherm ci MVES system. Together, MS Consultants, Foundation Building Materials Orlando and Rue Quality Systems brought the project home, with a huge assist from StoTherm ci’s fully engineered system, the single source solution for the building envelope.

With an elegant and fun dining room—and a state-of-the-art double drive-thru—the location has the capacity to make lots and lots of hot and tasty food to quell the cravings of all of our fans.

What’s the coolest thing customers can expect to see?

Dozens of happy team members behind the counter moving with a synchronicity and efficiency that rivals the world’s most renown symphonies. We have a total of more than 130 team members at this location, and there’s a spirit of camaraderie and shared sense of purpose that exudes a spirit of fun.

What will be the biggest surprise?

Customers might be surprised to see a Latin phrase on the exterior tower of the building. “Desideres ~Ego ~ Ergo~ Sum”—which translated means, “I Crave, Therefore I Am.”

Is this the first of what will be a trend in the larger restaurants for White Castle?

We always consider the nature of each site individually—size of future Castles will reflect the uniqueness of where it’s being built. We are especially happy with how the Orlando Castle turned out, and appreciative of all the hard work from dedicated partners that made it possible.

Why did you pick Orlando for the construction of the new restaurant?

Over the years, lots of fans of White Castle have petitioned and lobbied us to get a location in Central Florida. When we saw this location, we knew it felt like a great fit. We’re honored to have a restaurant in Florida, and thankful for the warm embrace we’ve received from the Sunshine State.

How does the overall design cater to what the area needs?

With an elegant and fun dining room—and a state-of-the-art double drive-thru—the location has the capacity to make lots and lots of hot and tasty food to quell the cravings of all of our fans. The outdoor seating area provides a nice alternative to those who prefer a different dining environment. It is an ode to the comfort you crave.

At 4,567 square feet, the Orlando restaurant is much larger than most other locations.

Did you work with any focus groups on the design?

Because we’re certain a lot of our competitors also read your publication, we are not at liberty to disclose what work we do from a research design perspective. What I can share is that we ask our customers good questions, listen intently to what they share with us, then act accordingly.

What are today’s customers looking for?

In the world of restaurants and food, first and foremost, it’s the taste. Value and convenience are also important drivers— but if the food falls short, there’s no hope of success. We are fortunate in having a menu that customers crave—and the ability to create a space and place where we can create memorable moments every day.

What’s the brand’s short-term strategy? Long-term?

The best and most complete way to share where we are focused and what matters most to us—because it drives every decision we make—is to share our vision and our mission. Our vision is to feed the souls of craver generations everywhere. And our mission is to create memorable moments every day.

CIRCLE NO. 18

With so many months of a COVID restricted world being something we have all encountered in common, our focus remains on connecting with our customers and being relevant for the long haul. We were able to celebrate our 100th birthday this year, and we’re eager for all the adventures that come next.

Give us a rundown of what you are seeing out there.

Creating environments and spaces and places that are not only customer focused, but team member focused is going to become increasingly important. The labor shortage is real, and being able to attract, hire and retrain individuals with a heart for hospitality is an opportunity for good design to help make a difference.

What’s the biggest issue today related to the construction side of the business?

Uncertainty over cost volatility and changes in local regulations and guidelines that vary dramatically across the country. Talk about the continued importance of sustainability today. What are you doing?

We are doing what we have always done as a family owned business. Taking the long view. We do that with decisions regarding packaging, building materials, and all parts of our supply chain. We recently built a new home office building in Columbus, Ohio, and we’re happy to say we received Gold LEED certification. CCR

ONE-ON-ONE WITH...

White Castle’s Mike Guinan

What type of opportunities do you see moving ahead? As the country recovers from the pandemic, there will be opportunities to connect and reconnect in meaningful ways that have the possibility to strengthen brand loyalty. People want brands and companies they can trust. That requires authenticity and doing the right thing for the right reasons. Our hope is that’s how we’re viewed.

What type of challenges have you seen? Supply chain challenges, labor shortages and lots of cost volatility.

What changes do you expect to see heading into 2022? More people, eating more White Castle sliders, everywhere you look, but admittedly, our view is somewhat Castle-centric.

What are the brand’s plans moving forward? To continue to be a great place to work, to continue to grow revenue, and to focus on continuous improvement and profitability. And to provide more jobs to more people.

How to Make Your Advertising in CCR…

By Jim Nowakowski, President Accountability Information Management, Inc.

We do a lot of advertising research. And today, there’s a lot of confusing information about what advertising is and isn’t.

The Readership Circles chart on the right will help you cut through this confusion. Because today, an “ad” is just part of the equation: readers get information digitally. They go through Google to fi nd you (over 4-billion searches each day), so your ad investment in CCR is just part of the equation. This article explains how to maximize that investment.

Content is the Key

Your ad appears in the print and digital version of the media outlet. The publisher of CCR, David Corson, invests most of his time and money building his “overall audience” for your ad (you can see his audience in this auditing tool: http://intrln.com/ccr)

But he also has his website to handle the audience he can’t control: the Google audience. Therefore, you can help maximize your investment by sending in your company information for CCR's website. The more content you have on the internet, the more chances you have of being found and purchased. Simple, huh?

Your Product is Really Information

No matter what product or service you are selling, your real product is information. Thus, you are in an information war competing for the attention of buyers with not just your competitors, but with everyone on the internet. The more content you have that’s yours, the more opportunities for them to see you and go through the readership circles.

Why We Know This

AIM places a tracking code on CCR’s website and each month monitors visitors. Then, because you advertise, you receive 10 “dossiers” seen on the right on companies who have consumed data – companies that represent high-valued targets because their need is NOW for what you are selling. ACCOUNTABILITY WEBSITE AUDIT Accountability Information Management, Inc.

SEPTEMBER 2020

David Corson has us audit this activity. You receive this audit if you advertise, and it represents a rich fi eld of leads for you. Call David Corson 678.765.6550 today to fi nd out more details! Or, call us and we’ll help you understand the powerful information at your disposal.

Always Trusted Information Accountability Informati on Management, Inc. 553 N. North Court, Suite 160 Palati ne, Illinois 60067 847-358-8558 www.a-i-m.com

CCR-MAG.COM

IMPORTANT. This audit covers the above website for the period of September, 2020. It was conducted by allowing Accountability Information Management, Inc. (AIM) by placing a proprietary Code on the website to provide deeper analytics from the thousands of monthly visitors to the website to the publisher (i.e., the companies utilizing the website). AIM is in the business of auditing and verifying data. For information, contact: AIM, 553 N. North Court, Suite 160, Palatine, Illinois 60067. PUBLISHER’S STATEMENT. Commercial Construction & Renovation, CCR-MAG.COM, is a community of leading commercial construction professionals within the retail, restaurant, hospitality, health care, federal, multifamily and other commercial sectors. The website content spans the design, construction and facilities operations of major commercial construction segments to meet the information needs of today’s high level executives. Visitors will find information relevant to the collaborative management process required to complete projects on time and on budget, and to efficiently manage these facilities. PRIVACY. F&J Publications, LLC discloses the information we collect on this website and how it is used. This report is based on visitors to CCR-MAG.COM. Specifically, the information in this report is aggregated to provide our advertisers information on website usage. F&J Publications always reserves the right to release information about visitors, including non-personal information.

NUMBER OF COMPANIES XXX This is the number of companies that the Code identifies. This number is the monthly universe of companies that can be identified from the thousands of visitors to this website. NUMBER OF TIMES THESE X,XXX This is the number of times these companies visited the website. The average per company is 1.41. PAGE VIEWS BY X,XXX This is the number of page views that these companies viewed on the website. The average pages viewed by a company this month is 2.04. SEARCH TERMS USED BY XX This is the number of identifiable different search terms these companies used to arrive on the website. The search terms, for example, were put into a browser which delivered results. Among the results was a page on this website. For example, while many people find it by typing in “commercial construction and renovation” or “CCR” in a search engine like Google or Bing, other terms deliver specific pages from this website based on what users type into the search engine. These searches account for less than 5% of the total search terms used. The top ten (listed) account for 48% of the identified total (not counting CCR itself). INDUSTRIES XX This is the number of companies that the Code is able to classify. It represents 5% of the total companies that visited this website, and is supplied for reference only. See UNDERSTANDING THE DATA. FIRST PAGE VIEWED X,XXX The Code keeps track of the first page viewed by the companies, and is the same number of times the companies came to the website. The chart Key First Pages Viewed lists the top ten landing pages from this grouping (excluding CCR-MAG.com itself, which is among the top, but not more than 12%).

SEARCH TERMS USED TO REACH US

• “Christopher Bushnell” AND Social Security • gary falco architecture • hi macs color TERRAZZO LUNA • inverter eon model el3 10 watt pricing • metal work very essential tools • mulehide jts1 colors • penncolor uv dispersions • permeable pavement concerns • rampart yellow wallcovering • silicone molds

KEY FIRST PAGES VIEWED (other than CCR-MAG.com)

• 7-essential-tools-for-your-metalworkingprojects • what-is-soil-reinforcement-and-how-is-it-done • 8-important-safety-measures-forconstruction-sites • new-menards-store-in-paducah-ky • construction-procurement-101 • conversations-with-bennett-van-wert-dwm • conversation-withbobby-darnell-cmc • american-dream-mall-in-nj-to-reopen-onoctober-1 • cny-group-names-new-vp-of-people-andculture • the-impact-of-building-materials-inconstruction

COUNTRY BREAKDOWN OF COMPANIES

United States XX%

India X%

Pakistan Canada United Kingdom Other (64 countries)

UNDERSTANDING THE DATA

This report is provided to you from the publisher to help you understand the creation, distribution and consumption of information on the digital highways. The companies that are provided to you in this report have visited CCR-MAG.COM and consumed information. Knowing the name of the company gives you a “heads up” to pursue for your sales efforts. If you need to explore additional ideas, including ways to utilize this information, please contact the publisher or AIM directly. In addition to the INDUSTRY/COMPANY listings, you will see a list of companies that are not categorized by Code into industries. These are sometimes more valuable and should be considered carefully for your sales efforts. Finally, often a company will utilize a general channel (like Comcast), which does not provide the individual company’s IP. These visitors are often just as valuable in terms of “what” they consume on our website. We would happy to help you pursue this type of analysis.

No matter where you place your message, this is the pattern of what we call the “Readership Chain.” And the weakest link in the chain will break it. That’s why you need as much content as you can on the Internet. People, your buyers, get distracted easily. Your messages must be compelling.

...Pay Dividends.

The magazine or newsletter or website has a specifi c number of possibilities - the overall audience. possibilities - the overall audience. You must factor that into ROI.

Some convert into readers of your message.

Not all people will "see" what you are selling. You must know some of these basics.

Some also raise the hand and ask for information.

Accountability Tools from CCR

The audience audit tool (on the left) enables you to see CCR’s audience for yourself. The Company Dossier tool on the right highlights 10 companies who have consumed CCR content that month for your marketing purposes. Advertising in CCR gets you these dossiers. And there’s much more. Below are the highlights from the prior month for your review. Imagine being able to see who is consuming content like this, and then putting them in your marketing sights!

ACCOUNTABILITY WEBSITE AUDIT

Each month advertisers receive powerful information to help them market their products and services. Here is a taste. 98,819 pages were consumed by over 2,000 companies. Among them:

• Architectural fi rms like HDR Inc. and Smithgroup • Universities like Illinois Wesleyan, Yale or University of Massachusetts • Energy companies like BP America or Schlumberger • Financial companies like American Express, Mckinsey & Company and Wells Fargo • Materials companies like USG Corp and Carlisle • Industrial companies like Aecom, Eaton and General Dynamics

And thousands more like CBRE, Texas Instruments, Goodyear, St. Lukes Episcopal Hospital. All these companies have projects going on – projects you can access to sell your products and services.

Call the publisher, David Corson for a complete details. 678.765.6550. Or email him at: davidc@ccr-mag.com.