HIGHLAND VILLAGE, Texas -- Minyard Food Stores' new food court here runs both hot and cold, by grouping chilled versions of its branded hot foods on a freestanding self-service kiosk.
The chilled items are the same branded foods available hot at the 1,500-square-foot food court's six service counters. The shop-around case is positioned at the head of the food court area.
The logo "What's for Dinner?" appears on a backlit sign and a dangler above the six-foot by six-foot modular case.
Displaying the whole variety of food court items chilled, together in a case of their own, is a departure from earlier food court designs by Orion Food Systems, which operates this Minyard facility. At Orion's other courts, chilled items are offered from low-profile, reach-in cases directly in front of their respective branded kiosks, but are not all grouped together in a central location.
"We see it as another convenience we can offer our customers," said Jack Murdock, Minyard's director of food service. "If they want to take food home to heat or finish preparing, they can grab a variety from that one case. It saves them time."
