Porcelain White Castles Disapearing

Anyone know why White Castle is replacing all their porcelain buildings with brick ones?  Slowly, WC has been replacing buildings like the one on the left that are perfectly good, and tearing them down to build ones like the one on the right... They just started tearing down another perfectly good porcelain building that the interior was remodeled on just a few years ago.    White Castle used to own the company that manufactured their trademark porcelain panels.   WC seems to be making a lot of strange moves the last few years - lots of weird stuff being added to the menu like BBQ Pork sliders, and now garlic cheeseburgers available with mushrooms and marinara sauce, and a breakfast menu.   I still remember the poster that was in every White Castle during my youth... Hamburgers for Breakfast - Why Not?
 
 
    

For some reason the pic of the porcelain castle didn't show up, but everyone knows the type of building I am talking about...

WC still owns PSB Co:
http://www.psbcompany.com/aboutus.php
 
If you can't get an answer out of WC, my guess is that the average customer might find the contemporary architectural design more appealing than the old designs. I know I am very cautious about going into a restaurant that appears to have a very old design, such as buildings originally built as a Shakey's pizza parlor. Too often, they are shopworn and smelly.

That could be... A lot of the WCs around St. Louis that have been replaced have been 40+ years old, but especially since they still own the porcelain company, surprised they aren't using the trademark shiny white panels.   Just another piece of Americana disappearing...

Could it be that even though WC owns PSB it's cheaper to build new buildings with materials from outside sources?
 
And then there are the comparisons between remodeling and existing structure and starting from scratch...energy efficiency, floorplan, etc.  Plus I'm sure WC's accountants are aware of any tax benefits as well.
 
Just don't change the burgers!!
 
Brad

The White Castle in Cincinnati at the intersection of Boudinot Avenue and Harrison Avenue was replaced a few years ago with a larger similar porcelain building on the same plot of land  with a better physical and drive thru layout.

Rt66Mike


Anyone know why White Castle is replacing all their porcelain buildings with brick ones?  Slowly, WC has been replacing buildings like the one on the left that are perfectly good, and tearing them down to build ones like the one on the right... They just started tearing down another perfectly good porcelain building that the interior was remodeled on just a few years ago.    White Castle used to own the company that manufactured their trademark porcelain panels.   WC seems to be making a lot of strange moves the last few years - lots of weird stuff being added to the menu like BBQ Pork sliders, and now garlic cheeseburgers available with mushrooms and marinara sauce, and a breakfast menu.   I still remember the poster that was in every White Castle during my youth... Hamburgers for Breakfast - Why Not?


   

 
Must be all some fairly youngens! This is what all WC's looked like in the old days!

The link below has a picture of the porcelain building:
 
http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/40511
 
Maybe the panels are too expensive to keep clean, whereas the fake brick facade is more maintenance free.