Application Spotlight: FASTSIGNS Franchisee Karrie Brock Exhibits the Franchise’s Capabilities with City Egg

In 2017, FASTSIGNS franchisee Karrie Brock captured the attention of Wide-Format & Signage magazine when she won our Project of the Year award. Brock won the award for her team’s superb execution of an original interior, exterior, and architectural branding package created for the fast-casual restaurant City Egg. The guides that Brock and her team made for the restaurant, and future franchisees to follow, proved that FASTSIGNS is much more than a signage execution company. Brock spoke to Wide-Format & Signage about how she and her team formulated City Egg’s brand from the ground up, and gave birth to a new franchise.

Ten Star Enterprises has been working with Brock for over 15 years, and their franchise Scrambles—a sit-down breakfast and lunch restaurant geared towards baby boomers—is one of Brock's biggest accounts at her Toledo, Ohio FASTSIGNS. The owners of Scrambles had been talking to Brock for years about their desire to create a fast-casual restaurant that could easily be franchised. When they finally found the right space for the project Brock was charged with the task of generating a name, proposing a brand concept, and creatively driving the entire project.

Scrambles made it known that they wanted this new fast-casual restaurant to be geared towards millennials, but that didn’t phase Brock when working on concepts for the project.

“We already knew that fast-casual was geared towards millennials, so it was a no brainer,” Brock said.

When considering other competitors in the fast-casual segment, Brock looked at Panera, Chipotle, Mac N' Melts, Corner Bakery Cafe, Noodles Company, and Moe’s, but it wasn’t for inspiration.

“Our focus wasn’t taking from competitors, we had to make it our own,” Brock explained. “Panera does breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and we only do breakfast and lunch, so we knew we were going to be stand alone in that respect.The only thing we really took from these franchises like Moe’s, and Macs N’ Melts, was ordering, and how simple they made their meal choices”

Brock added that she and her team looked at fast-casual competitors to get a sense of competitive price points, which enabled her to provide Scrambles with price matching.

“We brought the prices to our clients to give them a dose of reality, we told them the average cost of a sandwich was around $4, but they were looking for an $8 meal ticket,” Karrie said.

After researching the market, and creating various ideas, two were pitched to Scrambles. In each pitch logos, taglines, interior design concepts, and menu and ordering ideas were shared to illuminate the overall brands Brock hoped to cultivate. The idea that won out was City Egg: A millennial-geared lunch and breakfast stop, designed to have a cheery, modern industrial feel.

Creating the Interior and Exterior Design Concepts

Brock and the architect on her team leaned heavily on the incorporation of yellow and orange hues, and playful egg imagery to avoid the unwelcoming environment other industrial restaurants tend to have. To create the warm, modern industrial vibe, Brock and her team hung boards from steel piping, and used a palette of black, white, yellow, and light brown.

Brock also made sure that the interior and exterior of City Egg showcased a pivotal aspect of the brand: the city.

“We knew they [City Egg restaurants] wouldn’t all be in a city, but we wanted it to feel like a city environment, but not so far away that customers couldn’t relate to it,” said Brock. “We wanted it to be a place to escape for millennials. They love the city, and hustle and bustle, and branding.”

A large cityscape with grayback vinyl was placed on exterior of the building, as well as the wall above the kitchen area. Printed and contour cut grayback vinyl mixed with ⅛” black PVC also created a 3D cityscape “word wall” in the hallway leading to the restroom. And in the dining area, a sidewalk is depicted with vinyl on a brick wall.

Self-service kiosks—that have the ability to remember customers’ previous orders— were also installed for City Eggs rushed customers to make their orders. The kiosk counters were custom made to look like cracked eggs with orange acrylic, and laser cut white acrylic inlaid on top.

FASTSIGNS is Ready for Challenging Projects, and Recognition for Their Wide Offerings

The first City Egg opened in Columbus, Ohio, and a second location is expected to open in Toledo, Ohio this spring. It seems safe to say that Brock’s work on this project paid off. (Although Brock continues to work on City Egg's marketing and website.)

When reflecting back on the work she put into this project Brock says she’s not sure if anyone else would do as much as she did, but wishes that wasn’t the case, and wishes more FASTSIGNS would do what she’s doing at her franchise.

Brock also often finds that the FASTSIGNS name can often make people doubt the franchise’s ability to execute more conceptual, or heavily involved marketing projects.

“I think our name can really hinder our ability to get our foot in the door for more projects like this,” said Karrie.

But Brock explains now that more companies are aware of what she and her team are capable of, they’re reaching out and asking for help. Older customers are asking for help to revamp their brands, and redo their interiors, and as always Brock and her team rise to the occasion.