Rant: That time a local diner swapped their logo and lost all their regulars in 3 weeks

I walked into Mike's Grill downtown last month and barely recognized the place. They went from this warm, hand-drawn fork logo they'd had since 1992 to this cold, generic sans-serif wordmark. The owner said a branding agency charged them $2,000 for the redesign, promising it would look more modern. Three weeks later, I heard four regulars at the counter say they felt like it was a different restaurant now. The new logo just sits there flat on the menu, no personality, no story. Has anyone else seen a local place tank their vibe with a rebrand that ignored what made them feel familiar?

2 comments

2 Comments

diana557d ago

The coffee shop near me did the same thing and the regulars never came back.

noraj797d ago

That phrase "the regulars never came back" always makes me think about how hard it is to win back trust once you mess with a routine. I mean, people are creatures of habit (especially with their morning coffee spot).