These very well known restaurants in France for their grills try to relaunch themselves with many changes, especially on their map.
Struck by a world pandemic and then by inflation rarely observed, the catering sector has suffered a lot in recent years. Even the most emblematic restaurants have encountered great difficulties. This is the case of this channel, however created in 1961, which suffered so much from COVID-19 that 70% of establishments had ended up lowering the curtain in 2023. After a receivership, it was recently bought by the Baudaire group, Owner of the La Boucherie chains, red pepper, bistro of the butcher, the butcher kiosk, Mister Döner and Constant, which took over 87 establishments.
This new owner is now trying to save the famous franchise. The year 2024 has already focused on “the rewriting of the brand fundamentals with a very strong axis on quality and product offer,” the group said in a statement this Monday, February 3, 2025. ‘is stabilized around sixty restaurants and wishes to go back to 100 by 2030. Several measures have been taken quickly, including the return of the welcome salad and the free children’s menu on Wednesday. But short, this famous thatched roof sign, will experience other transformations.
Criticized on its aging design, it will gradually adopt “more modern” shades in its restaurants. Management wants to bring a deep change. The legendary fireplace is also redecorated and a bar is added. The card also tends to become shorter to be “perfectly mastered”.
This new concept has already been tested in a courtyard near Angers since August 2024 and seems to be proven. According to the group, attendance increased by 20% in the last quarter of 2024 and turnover by 21.5%. The clientele developed is younger and there are also more professionals.
The owner group is now targeting three development axes: “reopening, householdage creations and short -pale counters”. Courtepaille has three restaurant formats. In addition to those classic offering a wide choice of grills prepared for the fireplace in front of customers, there are “houses” that are focused on the land and local products, with a cozy and family atmosphere. The “Courtepaille Comptoir” are for their part smaller restaurants of the chain, present in the city center or in the hotels offering a tight map on classics such as burgers and grills.
“We want to project a shortpaper to the future and rekindle the flame into the hearts of consumers and future franchisees,” said Alexandre Baudaire, general manager of the group. So will shortpaille manage to really straighten the bar?