BoulesBitesBar is doing everything to make jeu de boules hip once again. Emile: “We’ve developed a customer experience concept where jeu de boules is combined with drinking and socialising. This interplay of leisure and hospitality is very enjoyable for a wide target group: from groups of friends and businesses, to families and students. For young and old”.
Eating out is changing
Emile and Davey are responding to a new trend. They are convinced that the eating-out world is going to change significantly in the coming years. Eating opportunities that combine activities and enjoyment will become enormously popular. Davey: “Ambience is very important to this. Our guests don’t have to move for getting a drink and snack and playing the game. Jeu de boules terrains and the tables and chairs are situated near each other, and so guests stay in the same ambience.”
Bringing the French village square indoors
Before the ambitious entrepreneurs started BoulesBitesBar, they worked with another franchise organisation together with the furniture partner. That went really well, according to Emile. While they were working on this concept, they visited Inspirium and saw all the possibilities and felt the entire experience. Emile: “At first we were in searching mode. We still hadn’t made any choices about interior and customer experience, but the Inspirium project leader supported us in developing the project and the visual identity”.
They joined forces with various partners. Davey: “Apart from the tables and chairs, they also supplied the greenery and irrigation experience. That’s very important, because we wanted to bring the French village square indoors. The company clothing and cash register system came from the partners”.
Franchisees work with a brand guide
With a franchise organisation, it’s vital to stick to a concept, but that is no simple task. A brand guide is formulated in order to safeguard the concept. “Our brand guide helps safeguard the concept. We have very precisely specified what we expect in terms of furniture, greenery and staff clothing. New franchisees know exactly where they stand”, explains Emile. Davey adds, “Each branch must look the same and that is done in accordance with the brand guide. Each location has its unique aspects and, naturally, we make use of that. It’s precisely in those different situations that a brand guide helps to ensure that the visual identity is maintained”.
In a flow
“We are in a certain flow. BoulesBitesBar wants to quickly open new branches in the Netherlands and Belgium. That can only succeed with good partners. Inspirium is an excellent example of that, because speed and service are the most normal things in the world for them”, Davey concludes. Emile closes with an apt phrase: “Inspirium is an extension of us. They listen to and advise us and our franchisees and help us to grow rapidly”.