Marvel Mania: burger with a T-shirt on the side

Discount Store News, May 5, 1997 by Ed Rubenstein

Land Entertainment of North Hollywood, Calif., which last fall developed Caesar's Magical Empire for Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas, is now working on Star Trek: The Experience through a joint venture with Paramount. The eatery will be open late summer at the Las Vegas Hilton. Merchandising plans are still in the development stage. Another Landmark project is the Apple Cafe, through a license from Apple Computer, to open later this year in Los Angeles. The eatery will offer Apple Computer-inspired merchandise, food and Internet access.

Forrest Gump's long legs are extending a successful run into the restaurant business, which began last year with the concept's debut in Monterey, Calif. A third location on Maui, Hawaii, is being converted from a Maui Maui Steak and Shrimp restaurant and will be open within the next few months. This follows on the heels of the February opening of a Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. on San Francisco's Pier 39. The Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. restaurants are licensed by Paramount's parent company, Viacom Corp., and run by the San Clemente, Calif.-based 15-location Rusty Pelican chain.

Hollywood Trenz will offer cutting-edge cybertainment and a full-service menu in a cinematic environment. The Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based company expects to open its first 30,000-sq.-ft. center later this year in Phoenix. Merchandise will include a hodge-hodge of star-studded memorabilia and licensed apparel.

The NASCAR Cafe, a joint venture between the auto racing body and eatery operator Connor Management, will open its first unit in Myrtle Beach, S.C., in spring '98. The outlet will carry officially licensed NASCAR apparel and auto racing goodies, such as checkered flags and model cars.

Billboard, the music industry journal, last fall opened Billboard Live, a nightclub that includes an 80-seat restaurant. The 12,000-sq.-ft. unit, located on the Sunset Strip of Los Angeles, showcases musical acts that are climbing the charts. Merchandise offerings include T-shirts, hats, baseball caps, jackets. More units are planned.

From movie studios to sports celebrities to comic books, Planet Hollywood is all about merchandising and consumer branding. The 6-year-old operator/franchisee of themed eateries continues to spearhead the eatertainment trend with its newest creation, Marvel Mania.

Through a licensing pact with Marvel Entertainment, the Planet Hollywood team will take themed restaurants to a new merchandising and interactive level.

Fresh off the heels of last fall's opening of the Planet Hollywood Superstore at the Caesar's World Forum Shops in Las Vegas, its first stand-alone retailing unit, Marvel Mania, will be a colossal celebration of Marvel comic book superheroes the way the planet Hollywood's core chain commemorates movie memorabilia and the All-Star Cafe enshrines sports legends.

The first Marvel Mania is scheduled to open as early as mid-August in the Universal City area of Los Angeles. Employees from both Planet Hollywood and Marvel three ago were in Los Angeles to inspect the site. The concept will range in size from 18,000 sq. ft. to about 25,000 sq. ft.

The second Marvel Mania, slated to open in late 1998 at Universal Studios in Orlando, Fla., will be part of the studio's E-ZONE, a 12-acre parcel featuring various theme restaurants, live music clubs and the NASCAR Cafe slated to open in 1999.

Marvel Mania will combine Marvel's action heroes, storylines and decor into a "Marvel Universe." Diners at the 300-seat restaurant will be surrounded by artwork, animatronics, lights and sounds featuring Marvel's comic book characters.

Marvel Mania's entrance and waiting area, called the "decompression chambers," will sport interactive kiosks and 3-D displays of famed Marvel characters.

The eateries will carry between 300 and 500 skus of merchandise, but the exact mix is still being determined, according to Marvel Mania publicist Kathi Satcher. Based on the Planet Hollywood model, product will no doubt include caps, T-shirts, coffee mugs, character-embossed jackets, sunglasses and beach towels. Prices are expected to range from under $20 to $200.

Key to Marvel Mania's success will be the merchandise sold in the restaurants, such as Marvel Mania action figures. A majority of the merchandise will be exclusive to the chain.

For Planet Hollywood's company-owned properties, sales of general merchandise generate greater margins than restaurants receipts. For 1996, about 33% of annual revenues, or $125 million, came from merchandise sales. About $222 million of the remainder was from food and drink sales. For fiscal 1995, merchandise sales accounted for 39.3% of total sales of $270 million, or about $4 of every $10 spent.

In addition to merchandise sales, the joint venture should benefit from Planet Hollywood's expanded management team. Since late 1996, it recruited Brian Woods, formerly the chief marketing officer for Blockbuster Entertainment, to be president of the Planet Hollywood brand and Patti Endre, who had managed Disney's adult apparel business, to head PHI's merchandise operations.