A&W + KFC = Godawfulugly

[Cardinal]

They're coming to a town near you. KFC and A&W are co-branding. The first is here and it isn't so bad. Ours was a test case and it went through before the corporate franchise guys really got a chance to think about it. The colors are muted with a side presence for A&W and the KFC cupola on the front. But our neighboring city just got the official design. Brown and gold and white and red. A square tower and cupola on one corner, A&W checkerboard with arched roofline on the other corner. Blue and red back-lit awnings. My eyes hurt.

 

[Tranplanner]

Thankfully, the merger between A&W and KFC's parent corporation does not include A&W's Canadian operations...'cause that sounds like a pretty ugly combo!

 

[Chet]

Can you post a picture?

My Plan Commission is terribly concerned about these things, I would love to see it.

 

[Cardinal]

I'll try to attach the images - I've had trouble getting this to work.

 

[Cardinal]

The above is Whitewater. If the image were larger you could see that the brown on the A&W is more of a dark tan. The gold is instead a light tan. Also, not no pylon or moniment sign - a trade-off for the big Colonel on the tower. Also, no blue or red awnings.

Below is Fort Atkinson - 10 miles away. It is the 'improved' format that the corporate franchise types agreed upon.

 

[Wannaplan?]

Speaking here personally, not professionally by any means, I'd have to say the juxtaposition of brown to red & white is interesting, though not beautiful... it certainly catches the eye. The thing that grosses me out is the thought of root beer and fried chicken... though A&W is now more of a burger joint these days.

In terms of site planning, based on the attached images, it's the same old fast-food configuration, so who really cares if it's a KFC-A&W match-up or a Pizza Hut-Taco Bell Express combo? It's all crud if ya ask me.

 

[Mary]

It's ugly AND it doesn't taste very good. How do they pull this off? I went to one of these KFC mix things and the chicken was terrible.

 

[Habanero]

Colorful corner-

One one of our corners we not only have the A&W/KFC combo, but a Pizza Hut/Taco Bell, Weinershnitzel, Home Depot, and Texaco. At least my initials aren't on the facade planss!!

 

[Chet]

WOWZA

That is breath-taking! ...and it would NEVER get past our Plan Commission in a million years!

 

[boiker]

Re: WOWZA

bturk wrote:
That is breath-taking! ...and it would NEVER get past our Plan Commission in a million years!

Rockford, IL has a Taco Bell/KFC/ Pizza Hut

however, it was NOT an a & w slapped onto the side of a Kfc

 

[BKM]

O/T

Hey Boiker: How are things in Peoria these days?

I attended Bradley for a couple years while under the self-delusion that I could ever be an engineer. (Instead, I chose an even nerdier profession ) Is "Big Als" still downtown (we have the grandpa Big Als in Northern California)

 

[BKM]

Fast Food Combinations

Actually, these combos don't bother me as much as they should! Except for the rare cases where they jam one in a classic building, fast food franchises are almost by definition part of the "Architectural Asteroid Belt" on the fringe of most towns. You can pretty them up, but it is still basically a junk land use. Maybe that makes me a snob?

Anyway, if combining two or three together means two or three fewer little plastic palaces of corporate franchise joy. I'm all for it. Combine them with gas stations, too!

 

[boiker]

Re: O/T

BKM wrote:
Hey Boiker: How are things in Peoria these days?

I attended Bradley for a couple years while under the self-delusion that I could ever be an engineer. (Instead, I chose an even nerdier profession ) Is "Big Als" still downtown (we have the grandpa Big Als in Northern California)

Big Als will never leave. It's a Peoria Classic.

How long has it been since you've been there. They have been making some good improvements to the city. Not a lot of growth, but they are re-establishing the downtown, and developing another shopping corridor in the north side.

 

[el Guapo]

Dogbert once said:

"I dream of a time when you will be able to get tobacco, alcohol and ammo at a drivethrough and be able to use them all before you get home."

My favorite was the seafood shack, beauty school, and adult bookstore in one. Talk about a stinky place!

 

[boiker]

Re: Dogbert once said:

El Guapo wrote:
"I dream of a time when you will be able to get tobacco, alcohol and ammo at a drivethrough and be able to use them all before you get home."

My favorite was the seafood shack, beauty school, and adult bookstore in one. Talk about a stinky place!

In the town of 15,000 i grew up in, you could get alcohol and tabacoo through a drive-through

And as long as you could drive a car, you could get both

 

[BKM]

Peoria

Its been a long time. Boy, am I getting old. I was there from 82-85-not a high point in Peoria's history (strike and huge layoffs at Caterpillar, a sense of overall shabbiness in the town). Still, some great architecture! And, for a midwestern town, a fantastic setting. I still remember the smell of fermenting grain (actually, where I work now, Fairfield, CA, has a Budweiser brewery). Loved Grandview Drive and Moss Avenue. And, I still remember the steak dinner on the riverfront where you picked your eight inch thick steaks from the cooler and cooked 'em yourself.

Its good to hear that Peoria is fixing up the downtown. So many mid-sized cities have not found the new niche for their old center (my hometown, Fort Wayne, Indiana, comes to mind). Would love to see Peoria, again, actually. My mom's getting up in years, so I need to visit the midwest this year!

 

[boiker]

Re: Peoria

BKM wrote:
Its been a long time. Boy, am I getting old. I was there from 82-85-not a high point in Peoria's history (strike and huge layoffs at Caterpillar, a sense of overall shabbiness in the town). Still, some great architecture! And, for a midwestern town, a fantastic setting. I still remember the smell of fermenting grain (actually, where I work now, Fairfield, CA, has a Budweiser brewery). Loved Grandview Drive and Moss Avenue. And, I still remember the steak dinner on the riverfront where you picked your eight inch thick steaks from the cooler and cooked 'em yourself.

Its good to hear that Peoria is fixing up the downtown. So many mid-sized cities have not found the new niche for their old center (my hometown, Fort Wayne, Indiana, comes to mind). Would love to see Peoria, again, actually. My mom's getting up in years, so I need to visit the midwest this year!

You are going to be extreamly surprised.

The area around the civic center looks wonderful, i believe they were constructing it as you were leaving. They are erecting a brand new 'throwback' minor league park on the downtown's SW side. The riverfront is reclaimed brownfield, now it's a nice strolling/picnic park with about 4 resturants. Some of the old warehouses have been converted into art galleries, antique shops, resturants, and loft housing. I actually work directly with the historic districts and our expanding soon to include our fifth locally designated area.

Peoria has reinvented itself, so far survived much of the recession and I think a small-mid sized town that offers big city flair.

There are no more breweries here, no more liqour distillerys either. But the grain processing is still here.

Btw, you can still get your steak here too

 

[Catrin]

Re: Dogbert once said:

El Guapo wrote:
"I dream of a time when you will be able to get tobacco, alcohol and ammo at a drivethrough and be able to use them all before you get home."

My favorite was the seafood shack, beauty school, and adult bookstore in one. Talk about a stinky place!

Late reply but I love these words. When I lived in Maryland we went to a Dairy Queen for ice cream, the place glorified the car. Hot rods parked there and put up there hoods. We parked our (oh god, it was a hyndai) and roamed around looking at other peoples cars. Can we still do this? If we can't get rid of the quick eat, can we make it more interesting? Maybe we could require that all cars parked in fast food restaurants must raise their hoods!

 

[GeogPlanner]

Beaner wrote:
The thing that grosses me out is the thought of root beer and fried chicken... though A&W is now more of a burger joint these days.

i love root beer and chicken!

 

[Downtown]

Yesterday I had an engineer come in to talk about a site plan for adding a Long John Silver's onto one of our Town Taco Bells. Yum - Seafood and Burritos. blargh.

 

[peter lowitt]

MIXED USES

The juxtaposition of uses I found most endearing occurred in a downtown Norman Oklahoma city block. A dry cleaners was located next door to a small church ( in the same building). Just goes to show you, CLEANLINESS IS NEXT TO GODLINESS.

 

[Tranplanner]

Ba Dum Bum.

Oi vay - it must be Friday afternoon.

You've opened up a whole new can of worms here Peter. My fav was the barber shop/ice cream parlour in the little town of Keene, Ontario.

Are those sprinkles on my cone?

 

[GeogPlanner]

Yesterday I had an engineer come in to talk about a site plan for adding a Long John Silver's onto one of our Town Taco Bells. Yum - Seafood and Burritos. blargh.

...Ooo...good ol' fish tacos...

BTW...did all the Long John Silvers disappear from upstate a while ago...now they are back?

 

[kms]

I saw a McDonald's/Amoco combo along Rt. 30. "Eat and get gas".

 

[BKM]

Combos

Now, all they need to do is develop a technology to take the gas (from the McCrap) and use it to replace the gas (from Amoco)