Defying Recession, 2 Theme Restaurants to Open in O.C. : Business: After Planet Hollywood and Hard Rock Cafe premiere, will they devour each others’ customers?
In the midst of the worst local economy since the Great Depression, a pair of high-theme eateries--one a tribute to cinema stars, the other a shrine to rock ‘n’ roll--will open their doors in Orange County over the next two weeks.
Planet Hollywood premieres tonight with a star-studded private party, including young actors Luke Perry and Christian Slater, at South Coast Plaza Village. Hard Rock Cafe opens Nov. 8 at Fashion Island Newport Beach.
But with fewer tourists coming to Orange County and locals still pinching pennies, the restaurants will be in a fierce battle and the pair could end up drawing substantial business from other local establishments as well.
“I think they both are going to find they are not going to do the dollars that they were expecting they would do,” said noted local restaurateur David Wilhelm of Bistro 201 and Diva. “They are going to be splitting each other’s market.”
The openings also set up a renewed rivalry between two of Orange County’s wealthiest and most influential landowners. Billionaire Donald L. Bren is betting Hard Rock will revitalize Fashion Island. Henry Segerstrom thinks Planet Hollywood can rejuvenate less frequented South Coast Plaza Village, which sits across the street from his mega-mall.
Both Planet Hollywood and Hard Rock adhere to a similar formula. Each offers a basic menu of burgers, salads, sandwiches and pasta entrees at moderate prices. They make a killing, however, on bar and merchandise sales. Hard Rock, for instance, believes teen-agers will fill their closets with Hard Rock T-shirts from every city, including Newport Beach.
The restaurants are so similar that Hard Rock has filed several lawsuits alleging that Planet Hollywood is a flimsy imitation that is encroaching into its exclusive sales turf.
Peter Morton, who owns the Hard Rock America parent company based in Los Angeles, alleged in a January lawsuit that Planet Hollywood was launched to devalue his holdings. The suit names, among others, Planet Hollywood President Robert Earl, who is a senior executive of the company that owns the East Coast rights to the Hard Rock name.
Morton followed up two months later with another lawsuit that alleged Planet Hollywood backers were negotiating for a space in Fashion Island, even though they had already decided on South Coast Plaza, “solely for the purpose of delaying, obstructing and possibly destroying” Morton’s plans for Newport Beach.
Planet Hollywood officials have denied all the allegations. Frank DiBella, the managing partner of the franchising group for Planet Hollywood in Santa Ana, said they simply negotiated for wherever they could find a potential site, unaware that Hard Rock had designs on Fashion Island.
For now, the animosity involving the lawsuits has been pushed behind the sugarcoating of the twin openings. But it never bubbles too far below the surface.
Asked about the competition, Earl said this week that “there’s enough business for everyone.” Morton simply sniffed “I haven’t even thought about it.”
The two themed restaurants open as local restaurateurs fight for an increasingly smaller amount of business. More Orange County residents are staying home to eat and they are expected to reduce their restaurant tabs by about 10% in 1993, according to a Cal State Fullerton economic forecast.
Both of them will depend significantly, too, on tourists flocking to places such as Disneyland and Knott’s Berry Farm. By that measure, Disneyland was able to salvage a respectable summer only because of local visitors and heavy promotion while Knott’s attendance was so dreary that it laid off dozens of employees and refuses to talk about it.
There can be no disputing, however, the popularity of these themed restaurants. San Diego bar owners watched in jealous disgust three years ago how the new Hard Rock Cafe in La Jolla constantly had lines of patrons outside, even in the rain, waiting to get in.
But so far, Orange County restaurateurs are not particularly worried--or are at least not willing to admit it.
“I think early on they will have a little effect on business,” said Bill Miller, president of Red Robin International Inc. in Irvine, which has 91 Red Robin restaurants including one next door to Planet Hollywood. But he said he believes patrons will tire of the lines and the hubbub and come back.
He questioned, too, whether Planet Hollywood will fare well in the long run. Hard Rock, with its years of operating experience, will be there “after Planet Hollywood is gone.” Even the name, Planet Hollywood South Coast Plaza, is wrong. “That’s not going to mean anything walking down a street in London,” he said.
The T-shirt appeal, however, has some local tourism promoters excited. “We’re going to have T-shirts with Newport Beach on them running around the world,” boasted Richard Gartrell, president of the city’s Conference and Visitors Bureau.
Fashion Island and South Coast Plaza, too, are counting on the restaurants to give them a new luster. Planet Hollywood is in the shell of a former Reuben’s Steakhouse on the Santa Ana side of Sunflower Avenue.
Converted at a cost of more than $6 million, it carries the name of South Coast Plaza even though it is technically part of South Coast Plaza Village, a park-like cluster of shops and restaurants across the street from the main center that has never done very well.
South Coast Plaza officials are banking that will soon change. “Planet Hollywood will be a major destination, not just for locals but tourists as well,” said Jan Roberts, South Coast Plaza’s marketing director.
The mall itself, which is the most successful shopping center in the continental United States, draws only 60% of its patrons from Orange County. Another 20% of its customer base comes from tourism and the remainder from outlying counties. In Planet Hollywood, South Coast executives hope they will have a destination attraction that will turn diners into still more shoppers.
“This is so exceptional and unique that it’s going to be the highest-grossing restaurant in Orange County,” predicted Planet Hollywood’s Earl. He said he will be disappointed if the restaurant grosses less than “double digits”--at least $10 million a year.
Franchisee DiBella said he expects that more than 1,500 customers will be served daily in the 275-seat restaurant. He was already so happy with the place this week that he was already talking about franchising another.
Planet Hollywood plans to open new restaurants in Chicago; London; Barcelona, Spain, and Cancun, Mexico in the next few months.
At Fashion Island, Hard Rock will take over the former Amen Wardy designer clothing store in the parking lot and will be distinguished by a 40-foot neon sign in the shape of a guitar.
Few details are being released about what rock ‘n’ roll treasures will be displayed, but Morton promises they will be “indigenous” to Orange County. Morton’s company has cloned the London original he co-founded 12 times.
Reached by phone in London where he was fussing about a pair of loafers he had just bought, Morton said the new restaurant will thrive because Newport Beach “is a great community and I’ve always wanted a restaurant there.” But he said he was unable to find the right location until he started negotiating with Fashion Island, which he described as “sort of the epicenter” of town.
Planet Hollywood will open tonight with a guest list that includes teen heartthrobs Slater and Perry; “Star Trek” star Patrick Stewart and Hard Rock investors Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone and Bruce Willis.
The Hard Rock opening will spotlight the featured performers, the Neville Brothers.
But will such stars return?
Morton says no. Earl says yes--for occasional special events.
And restaurateur Wilhelm adds: “A lot of local people are going to be disappointed if they expect to see (celebrities) on a regular basis.”
Coming Attractions
When it comes to funky restaurants and clubs, conservative Orange County has lagged behind Los Angeles. But now two of the hippest eateries in the nation will open within two weeks of each other: Planet Hollywood and Hard Rock Cafe.
Planet Hollywood
Public opening: Saturday
Location: 1641 W. Sunflower Ave., Santa Ana
Owners: Keith Barish, chairman, and Robert Earl, president, Planet Hollywood Inc.; franchised by Italatin Group, based in Long Beach
Other locations: New York
Square footage: 12,500
Dining capacity: 275
Memorabilia: The rifle Roy Scheider used to shoot “Jaws”; the motorcycle Sylvester Stallone rode in “Rocky”; Stallone’s knife from “Rambo”; a Darth Vader costume from “Star Wars,” and the yellow hat that Warren Beatty wore in “Dick Tracy”
Sources: Hard Rock America;
Planet Hollywood
Hard Rock Cafe
Public opening: Nov. 9
Location: 451 Newport Center Drive, Newport Beach
Owner: Peter Morton, founder, Hard Rock America, Los Angeles
Other locations: Los Angeles, Chicago, Honolulu, Aspen, Las Vegas, San Francisco, New Orleans, Maui, Houston, San Diego
Square footage: 8,753
Dining capacity: 250
Memorabilia: Unknown. But other clubs owned by the same management have items such as Michael Jackson’s jacket from the “Thriller” video; an original handbill for one of Bob Dylan’s first concerts in New York; eyeglasses worn by Buddy Holly, Roy Orbison and Elvis Presley
