World's first IHOP/Applebee's combo about to open in downtown Detroit
JC Reindl
Downtown Detroit is days away from claiming the world's first combination IHOP and Applebee's.
The 12,000-square-foot hybrid restaurant is inside the Millender Center building at Jefferson and Brush Street, across from the Renaissance Center.
The IHOP portion opened in late May serving 19 different all-day menu items. The landmark event will come June 26, when the Applebee's half is set to go live for lunch and dinner.
This first-of-its-kind restaurant was developed by Livonia-based TEAM Schostak Family Restaurants, which will own and operate the location.
Yet Detroit's trailblazing hybrid IHOP/Applebee's could be at risk of having outdated signs before it even opens completely.
This week IHOP announced it will change its logo on Monday, flipping the P to become "IHOb."
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Mark Schostak, executive chairman of TEAM Schostak, told the Free Press on Friday that he didn't know whether or how the logo change could affect the new restaurant.
"At this point we really don't know a lot about it. That's something that's handled at the national level," Schostak said.
Both the IHOP and Applebee's brands are owned by Glendale, Calif.-based Dine Brands Global, formerly called DineEquity. A company representative did not immediately return a message seeking comment late Friday.
The new IHOP/Applebee's is expected to draw customers from the nearby Marriott hotels, as well as downtown Detroit offices. Six different customer segments are forecast:
- Early morning quick-grabs
- Full breakfast and breakfast buffet customers
- Lunch business
- Happy Hour traffic
- Dinner business
- Late night
Mark Schostak said that news of Detroit's future IHOP/Applebee's has been attracting interest from across the country.
"No one’s ever done it before, so people are very curious about it,” Schostak said. “People are watching this to see how this develops and how these two brands come together."
The restaurant's interior features Detroit wall art and amenities that are rarely found in traditional IHOPs or Applebee's, such as a lounge area and a board room people can rent. Customers will be free to sit on either the IHOP or Applebee's side.
The IHOP opens at 6:30 a.m. during the week (7 a.m. on weekends) and serves until midnight. The Applebee's will open at 11 a.m. and also go to midnight. (Both will close an hour early on Sundays at 11 p.m.)
The Schostak firm currently operates 65 Applebee's locations, although this will be its first IHOP.
“The idea here was they are sister companies — can we do something together," Schostak said.
The hybrid restaurant will employ about 120 full and part-time employees.
Contact JC Reindl: 313-222-6631 or jcreindl@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @JCReindl.