(PCM) The once popular Italian restaurant chain Olive Garden revealed a new logo for the restaurant as part of the chain’s branding revamp. After a less than stellar past couple of years and recently declining stock prices, Darden Restaurants Inc, Olive Garden’s parent company, is looking to turn the restaurant around.
Olive Garden revealed the new logo and future plans during a presentation to its investors on Monday. Darden hopes that the new logo, along with recent menu changes and promotional events, will cultivate a new atmosphere for the chain that caters more to today’s consumer. Darden executives are describing the new logo as “the symbol for our brand renaissance.”
The new logo, which features “Olive Garden” in a white cursive font on a dark gray background with green olive branches, reflects today’s simple no-fuss design aesthetic. The logo also includes the new description of Olive Garden as an “Italian Kitchen” as opposed to an “Italian Restaurant.”
The company’s stock fell 5% on Monday after the new logo was revealed. Shares are down by 7% for Darden in 2014 and Olive Garden is a probable contributor to this; same store sales for the first quarter were down 4% and down 0.6% for the second quarter. 2014’s poor sales (third quarter numbers were lower than analysts’ expectations) are speculated to be due in part to the terrible winter weather hitting the Midwest, South, and East Coast.
Some blame the drop in business on today’s health and cost conscience consumers. 
More diners are opting for healthier, cheaper, and faster food that doesn’t require tipping a wait staff, like Chipotle. Others blame the disappearance of the middle class, Olive Garden’s target consumer.
Executives are hopeful though, believing that the brand revamp and menu changes will bring customers back through Olive Garden’s doors. In February, Olive Garden had a menu overhaul, calling it “the most significant evolution in the restaurant’s history.” 20 new dishes were added to the menu along with smaller plate options and new mix and match pasta plates. The Italian restaurant even added a burger to its menu last year in hopes of expanding its customer base.
While Darden plans on continuing business with Olive Garden and revamping the chain’s brand, they plan to sell off or spin off Red Lobster, another struggling chain under the company. Specializing in seafood, Red Lobster has had worse quarters than Olive Garden, prompting Darden to cut ties with the chain.
Along with the new logo and menu, Olive Garden has also been rolling out new promotional events to stir up business. On February 7th, the chain hosted “Parents’ Night Out” in partnership with My Gym where parents could drop their children off at a partnering My Gym location with a deposit, go out to Olive Garden and use the 2 for $25 special, and pick their children up and get their deposit back with their Olive Garden receipt.
Only time will tell if the company’s efforts will produce better earnings for the chain.
