SpudBar will expand outside of Melbourne for the first time this year following an extensive rebrand. SpudBar, which has 12 stores in Melbourne, will open in Canberra and inner city Perth in the later half of this year. The sites will be the first time the franchise has expanded out of its home market since opening in 2000. The expansion follows an extensive rebrand of the chain, which has seen an overhaul of its stores, menu, and marketing strategies over the past three years. Last month
marked the completion of the rebrand, with the Doncaster Shopping Centre store the last to be converted to the new look.
According to SpudBar CEO, Simon McNamara, since its rebrand, SpudBar at Doncaster has seen a 20 per cent lift in sales.
“It was quite extensive. The rebrand was everything from the logo, to the menu, to our store’s interior design – the finishes, signage, and graphics,” said McNamara.
“It was completely overhauled and we also significantly updated our menu to have more choice and more meat options.
“We thought we were limiting our marketing with our menu options because they were mainly vegetarian and we were seeing a market of mainly females, but now our market has become much more balanced between males and females.”
The majority of SpudBars are in line stores in high street locations, however, last month SpudBar opened at Emporium’s upmarket food hall in Melbourne.
“We don’t go into foodcourts, but we operate in entertainment or restaurant precincts in shopping centres or food halls like Emporium.”
McNamara told Inside Retail PREMIUM the brand is looking for additional sites in Melbourne.
“We’ve only recently ramped up our market activity, so that’s already getting us a lot more enquiries. We’ve had a couple more franchisees sign up and we’re looking for sites at the moment in Melbourne.”
SpudBar has an initial target of 20 stores, with McNamara suggesting Brisbane as another potential market for the brand.
“Our initial target is 20 stores,” McNamara said.
“That number is when you get the scale that makes you more efficient. We don’t have a specific long term target, but for the short term we’re aiming for 20. That includes the stores we have now.
“The majority of new stores will most likely be in Melbourne where we have already established brand awareness,” said McNamara.
