A new KFC restaurant in McKinney, Texas, is about much more than debuting a new design.
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restaurant → debut → design
"This is the Kentucky Fried comeback made real in one restaurant," KFC U.S. President Catherine Tan-Gillespie told Fox News Digital.
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Gillespie → make → Digital
The restaurant, dubbed Open House, serves as a testing ground for how the 75-year-old fast-food chain that Colonel Harland Sanders founded might modernize without abandoning the things that made it famous.
uncertain
it → dub → things
KFC's challenge isn't necessarily getting Americans to remember the brand.
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Americans → get → brand
It's getting them to think about it when deciding what to eat today.
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them → get → what
"There is a massive love for this American icon," Tan-Gillespie said.
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Gillespie → be → icon
But in the U.S., she added, "we tend to be thought about in people's memories.
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we → add → memories
We're not actually being considered in eating moments of today."
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We → consider → today
That tension between nostalgia and relevance helped shape Open House.
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tension → shape → House
In developing the restaurant, KFC started with a question.
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KFC → develop → question
"We sat back and said, you know, if the Colonel were building a restaurant from scratch today, what would this look like?" Tan-Gillespie said.
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Gillespie → sit → what
The answer incorporates Art Deco and mid-century modern influences alongside large glass windows, digital ordering and drive-thru technology.
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answer → incorporate → windows
At the same time, the restaurant features lobby hosts, table service, booths and outdoor dining designed to encourage customers to gather.
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restaurant → feature → customers
"For me, the philosophy is that we should be digital where it's helpful, but human where it matters," Tan-Gillespie said.
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Gillespie → matter → me
The menu follows a similar philosophy: Hold onto KFC's most recognizable products while experimenting with how customers want to eat chicken now, Tan-Gillespie said.
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Gillespie → follow → chicken
Buckets and the chain's original recipe remain central, but Open House expands into tenders, wings, sandwiches, wraps and nuggets, along with new sauces, drinks, snacks, sweets and sides.
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House → remain → sauces
Open House is scheduled to operate from 6 a.m. to midnight, giving KFC an opportunity to test breakfast and late-night occasions that traditionally haven't been a major part of its U.S. business.
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that → schedule → business
"We will see if those shoulder day parts work commercially for us and work for the guests, work for our team members," Tan-Gillespie said.
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Gillespie → see → members
"If they don't, we'll cut them back.
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we → do → them
And if they do, then we can look to scale them nationally."
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we → do → them
"I think the things that should change is making sure that we expand into the ways that customers want to eat fried chicken today."
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customers → think → chicken
KFC also chose McKinney with scalability in mind.
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KFC → choose → mind
Tan-Gillespie described the Dallas-Fort Worth area as a fast-growing and competitive restaurant market, while McKinney provides a mix of existing KFC customers and consumers the chain hopes to attract.
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chain → describe → consumers
The suburban setting also gives KFC a test that could potentially translate to similar markets elsewhere.
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that → give → markets
But even as KFC experiments with new formats, flavors, technology and dayparts, Tan-Gillespie said some pieces of the brand aren't up for reinvention.
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pieces → experiment → reinvention
"Buckets of original recipe fried chicken should not change," she said.
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she → fry → chicken
"I think the things that should change is making sure that we expand into the ways that customers want to eat fried chicken today.
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customers → think → chicken
"
And what would Sanders make of that balance between the KFC he created and the one the company is trying to build?
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company → make → KFC
"I think he would feel really proud, actually," Tan-Gillespie said.
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Gillespie → think → ?
"I think he would say, 'This feels like me.
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This → think → me
This feels like what I was trying to do.'
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I → feel → what
The Aporia
