While Brick-and-Mortar Retail Flounders, Food Halls Drive Mall Traffic

As retail sales trend towards e-commerce, one way that mall owners are driving traffic to the space is through dining, entertainment, fitness centers and other tenants. Still, according to CNBC, consumers are hitting up the mall not for shopping but for eating at the on-site food court or food hall.

Analyst Jay Sole told CNBC, “Shoppers say they increasingly go to the mall to eat at the food court or just hangout instead of visiting a big box store. Since the mall is no longer the place consumers discover fashion, it makes sense the reasons they visit the mall are changing. ... For the sixth straight year, U.S. consumers say the availability of online shopping is causing them to visit large regional and outlet malls less.”

Retailwire reported that, in a survey of more than 2,500 consumers by UBS, the presence of food halls, farmer’s markets and grocery stores could especially sway young consumers to visit a mall.

Food halls tend to feature popular local restaurants; for restaurateurs, the development of an abbreviated menu and convenience-driven business model could easily be the first stepping stone to franchising their concept with a food hall-focused development strategy. Franchise Times even called it as early as 2017, urging franchisors to get in on the food hall craze.

“The convenience of food halls and their high-quality product seem to be what’s attracting customers most,” said CEO and cofounder of Fulton Galley Benjamin Mantica to CNBC. “Food halls make it possible to get a high-quality meal from relatively independent operators at an approachable price point.” Fulton Galley operates locations in Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Detroit, and Chicago.