Details emerge about Duluth's new Noodles and Company

May 25, 2012

The details are out! The Noodles and Company that is locating in a portion of the former Great American space will hopefully open by the end of summer. The new location will cover 2,850 square feet, which at first may be viewed as small, but it actually isn't. When I first saw that square footage I was thought to myself "once again Duluth get's the mediocre store, never do we get a full prototype," but when reviewing other locations, ours is actually a good size. Most stores are around the 2,500 square foot range, with some, a very select few, being over 3,000. So in Duluth's case, we are above average!

Now to the interesting things about the store. The store is set up basically in a way if you were to cut the store in half vertically. Half of the space is kitchen and prep space, while the other half is the dining space. The store will have a mall entrance with a very nice metal and glass design and will close off the entrance that is currently right outside the mall doors. That space will be completely bricked over (yes sadly the brick will match the current malls brick) and a new window will be put in place. The design for the exterior front uses the signature Noodles & Company design (pictured below) and features gooseneck lighting and red awnings. A door and window will be added to the exterior space. The space will have seating for 55 inside in a mix of booths, tables, and high tops, and also will have seating for 16 in an outdoor patio.

And yes, if you're wondering, the location will include one of the new Coca Cola Freestyle Machines. For those of you who do not know what that is, it's a new soda dispensing machine from Coca Cola that is slowly being rolled out across the country in different locations. Noodles & Company this past year signed a contract to install the machine in all it's locations. The machine features a touch screen and serves over 100 different flavors of soda. For example, you can choose Sprite, or you can get it flavored with cherry, vanilla, strawberry, peach, grape, raspberry, or orange. It's quite the machine! I've included a picture below of what the machine looks like.

It looks like, at least from the plans, that the store will be quite nice. I myself wish they would have used a little bit of stucco to cover the brick outside and give the mall a more modern look, but I can understand where they are coming from in trying to keep the mall looking as one. The only thing I am confused about, it seems like the only entrance is within the mall. So does this mean they will have limited hours? Or will the let customers enter through the patio at night?

Look for the new Noodles & Company to open at the Miller Hill Mall by summers end.