When creating a themed space, developers promote certain ideas that can be read by everyone.  These ideas should be easily associated with the themed space so that eventually the ideas and the space are interchangeable. In the case of Olive Garden's restaurant on Route 9 in Poughkeepsie, the ideas of Italian food, family, and fun are a motif throughout the restaurant that create an easily identifiable idyllic northern Italian village.
Through its advertisements and its facility setup, this Olive Garden presents itself as a family-oriented establishment transferred from the hills of northern Italy. They try to enhance this atmosphere by decorating the space in "typical" villa fashion with high ceilings and wood overhangs. There are wine bottles lining the high counters, window-box plants everywhere and lots of open space that resembles what is supposed to be an Italian open-air restaurant. Murals of houses and gardens in the hills complete the decor, which Olive Garden tries to signify as authentic Italian. Even their managers and servers are sent to Italy to learn authentic Italian ways of dining. Their assumption is that most of the customers who come to the restaurant are as culturally knowledgeable as they are and will recognize their attention to detail. 
The Italian authenticity is also present in their food, as they provide many traditional Italian dishes as well as special dishes from their Culinary Institute in Tuscany. Riserva di Fizzano dishes from the institute are specifically designed to bring the most authentic northern Italian cuisine possible to Olive Garden. Their salads and desserts are Italian style and supposedly made freshly. They provide these dishes in an effort to mimic both authentic homemade cuisine and the Italian qualities associated with it.  Additionally, they now offer more expensive and Italian wines to further enhance the quality and authenticity of the consumers' impression. Again their theme, assumes a broad cultural knowledge of both food and drink, and a consumer who is able to recognize the quality and authenticity of the presentation.
          Family is also very meaningful to the Italian way of life.  The family theme fits right into Olive Garden's atmosphere. The restaurant presents itself as a family restaurant most obviously by their advertising tagline, "When you're here, you're family." The evening starts off with wine and food sampling while waiting in line so that the family can interact with each other even before they sit down. They provide less expensive meals and smaller-sized portions, and crayons for the children while providing the adults with good wine and exotic meals. They stress the quality for the price, which is fairly reasonable for a family sit-down restaurant. Their unlimited servings of breadsticks and Italian family serving-sized salad promote the idea of sharing with others that is commonly associated with the family dynamic. The restaurant assumes the customers understand their ideal of family and therefore come there because of their understanding. However, it is because of these assumptions that the restaurant alienates some people as well.
        The ideas signified by Olive Garden are welcoming to people who understand the ideas, however provide others with reasons not to come. To families and those who like the idea of authentic food, the restaurant is welcoming because it is representative of their tastes. On the other hand, there are people that are turned off by the presentation. Some people are too culturally knowledgeable for Olive Garden, and see its presentation of authenticity and family as a façade. They believe that it is just a business's cheap attempt to profit off a storied culture. Most Italians would probably fall into this category because they know what Italian life is really like and believe that Olive Garden is not it.  Olive Garden might also require too much cultural knowledge for some people. They might not want to go the restaurant because they do not understand its concept.  In all cases the amount of cultural knowledge is the variable in deciding whether or not the certain people eat and enjoy themselves at the Olive Garden.
The sign values presented by Olive Garden are extremely important when determining the restaurant's exchange value.  The exchange value of the restaurant is based on its number of customers.  Representation can be a deciding factor in Olive Garden's success.  The representations provided by the restaurant can appeal to certain people and repel others. Either way, the success or failure of the theme of the restaurant can determine whether it has a high or low exchange value.  For instance, the Olive Garden restaurant in Poughkeepsie is on Route 9, about a quarter of a mile away from the mall. However, the restaurant has planted many trees in front so that the road is invisible to anyone inside of the restaurant.  The road is not part of the way the restaurant wants to be read.  By isolating its customers in its theme, Olive Garden is either increasing or decreasing their exchange value, depending on the customers' response to the theme. 
        In business, the impressions of a themed space are especially important. They can be used for brand recognition, which can further be used to sell the product.  In the case of Olive Garden's restaurant chain, Italian symbols and signs are used to clearly and effectively illustrate the identity of the themed space and create brand recognition among consumers. Olive Garden provides clear symbols of their theme while trying to appeal to specific people to gain business, therefore creating a successful themed space.