Lina Stores is to launch its own coffee brand, while trialling a move into the breakfast day part with the aim of becoming an all-day offer, COO Éadaoin McDonagh tells MCA.
The 80-year-old Italian concept – which will open its sixth site in Clapham next month – is trialling the menu at its Marylebone site with the view of rolling it out to other sites. Items include truffle scrambled eggs, porchetta and fried egg panino, plus tea, juices, and Italian espresso.
It is also considering expanding to mainland Europe or the US further down the line, with regional UK cities a possibility as well, following its international launch in Tokyo.
“All the restaurants are really busy,” McDonagh says. “Breakfast is not the most natural thing to launch [as an Italian concept], but we’ve used prime Italian ingredients, with the truffle scrambled eggs becoming a firm favourite after just a few weeks.
“It’s more of an all-day opportunity.”
Lina Stores is therefore flexible in terms of the sites it takes on – which range between 1,900 and 5,300 sq ft – due to its variety of proven formats.
The Clapham site will begin by offering breakfast on weekends, while stripping out the delicatessen element of other sites due to the smaller size of the 80-cover restaurant. It will be similar to the Greek Street site, with a pasta counter and aperitivi bar.
“Clapham is a real first test for us – it’s almost fully residential without high footfall seven days a week,” McDonagh continues. “But is does resonate with us to build a neighbourhood customer over time.
“The beauty of Lina is that each location is adapted in terms of the offer. In a mixed-use area like Marylebone, the customer dynamic is different, so we launched an open counter to offer Italian salad bowls for takeaway.
“It’s also more elevated and has a bar feel…although the fresh handmade pasta and antipasti will always be a part of the offer.”
While the guest experience differs across restaurants, Lina Stores will celebrate the 80th anniversary of its brand – which began with the Brewer Street store in Soho – next year. A cookbook and other “fun activations” are on the cards.
Investment and development platform White Rabbit Projects, whose other investments include Kricket and Island Poké, helped turn the heritage shop into a restaurant in 2018.
“King’s Cross services a lot of the trains to the North. Lots of regional UK customers know us from our site there, and the menu and price point would resonate really well with them.
“We never talk about numbers – it’s more about constant, gentle growth, controlling the customer experience, and growing the right way.”
Years of relationships with the same suppliers, dating back decades, has helped the brand keep the menu affordable.
It has therefore not noticed a decline in volumes and looks to maintain a value for money proposition.
