NEW YORK - KFC is tossing out the bones and the quaint image of founder Col. Harland Sanders as it gets ready to test a slightly more upmarket restaurant.
The fried chicken chain says it’s opening a location called “KFC eleven” early next month near its headquarters in Louisville, Ky., that will serve flatbread sandwiches, rice bowls, salads and only boneless pieces of its Original Recipe chicken.
The restaurant’s exterior won’t feature Sanders, whose bespectacled, white-bearded likeness has long been front and center at traditional KFC locations. But the name of the test restaurant is a reference to the 11 herbs and spices Sanders used in the Original Recipe.
In a note to investors about KFC’s test, Mark Kalinowski of financial-advice firm Janney said that such “fast-casual” chains remain the fastest-growing segment in the restaurant industry.
Business, Pages 24 on 07/18/2013