In the you-can’t-make-this-up category, Holiday Inn Express has joined forces with the designer who is known as “Mr. Eatwel” to launch its first custom line of “Pancakesuits” in honor of Thursday being National Pancake Day.
Why? Apparently, the IHG-owned Holiday Inn Express has switched up its complimentary breakfast offerings through the years, but pancakes have remained. Guests can find the flapjacks at 3,000-plus locations. By its own account, the hotel chain serves millions of pancakes each year. That alone is a lot to digest, but there’s more. The designs feature a hidden warming pocket that can be used for a pancake, but are more suitable for a chilly hand.
Justin Alexander, vice president of global brand management for Holiday Inn Express, Staybridge Suites and Candlewood Suites, said more than 400 million pancakes have been served at its Americas locations, since the one-touch pancake machine was introduced.
After Holiday Inn Express’ team cooked up the pocket warmer idea, Mr. Eatwell’s founder Matt Rebackoff said he liked the cool functionality addition, but his production team took some convincing to add the thermal insulated liners. “I think the idea of someone just sticking pancakes in their pocket is hysterical. But they also do a to-go breakfast program over there where things are wrapped, which would make it a little less messy than pouring pancakes with syrup in your pockets,” he said.
Fittingly, the Holiday Inn Express x Mr. Eatwell collection is size inclusive so that everyone has plenty of room to breathe. More than five years ago, Rebackoff started his label to blend his love for comfort and food. (Never mind that millions consider pancakes to be comfort food.) The collaborative pale blue sets feature embroidered motifs of pancakes with dripping syrup. The New Orleans-based Rebackoff, who lived and worked in different fields in New York City, said he never set out to work in fashion. But after printing a sweatshirt with an image of a bowl of pasta that he had photographed, others wanted in on the look, and in the years that followed collaborators came calling.
Consumers can purchase his pancake-centric collaborative sets on the Mr. Eatwell e-commerce site. Hoodies and crewnecks are in the mix for adults at $99 and for children at $50, which is intentionally more affordable that what Mr. Eatwell’s sets typically retail for. Shoppers, who splurge for the set with the stealth warming pocket, will score 50,000 IHG One Rewards points, which can be redeemed for a one-night stay at most Holiday Inn Express hotels. And on National Pancake Day on Thursday, customers can use the code “Pancakemyday” for a 50 percent discount on their entire purchase. Another pancake-loving company IHOP celebrates National Pancake Day on Feb. 13, but that’s another story.
Rebackoff has more to celebrate today — it’s his birthday and a year has passed since he started the project. “I’m super excited with how it turned out,” he said. “This is the longest and hardest that I’ve ever worked on a project.”
A three-day trip to New Orleans nearly seven years ago turned into a new base city for the entrepreneur, who is nearing the 25,000 mark for orders for the Mr. Eatwell business. While he was living in New York, he said he had initiated corporate food buying for Murray’s Cheese and category management for Dean & DeLuca among other things. As for his company’s name, Rebackoff said, “Really, I just like to eat well — not eat right. There is a misconception [sometimes] of ‘Oh, that’s healthy.’ I just mean to eat good food especially, when I’m traveling.”
As for whether he will be eligible for unlimited stays at Holiday Inn Express for the rest of his life, he laughed, “You will have to ask them. I can probably walk in and get pancakes for the rest of my life.”
