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Malls’ food courts are getting a boost from the ghost kitchen movement sparked by the pandemic, with delivery being a major sales driver as life returns to a new normal, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday (July 6).
Sam Nazarian has grown from a hotel lifestyle entrepreneur to a pioneer in the ghost kitchen and launched Created Culinary Communities (C3) earlier this year to bring the concepts of food halls and ghost kitchens together. The company already has investors like Simon Property Group and Brookfield Asset Management, both big players in shopping centers.
Nazarian told the Journal his company plans to launch 1,000 ghost kitchens before the end of 2021. C3 is also preparing to announce a $ 80 million Series B funding round, jointly led by Brookfield and REEF Technology, WSJ reported.
The mixing of food courts and ghost kitchens emerged during the pandemic when restaurants closed or switched to delivery or pickup. C3 sees shopping malls, hotels, and restaurants as a way to provide food kitchens in a single location to increase both efficiency and profitability.
“[We are] Make sure you go to these restaurants [and] Food halls operate for almost 24 hours, ”Nazarian told the WSJ. “You can go to a Krispy Rice in Chicago or New York or Austin … but we have seven to ten of our other brands in the back prepared for delivery there.”
C3’s first Food Hall opens on 40,000 square feet in New York City on Manhattan West and is set to house some of the company’s 40+ brands, including Umami Burger and Krispy Rice. According to the WSJ, the opening date is planned for September.
Direct-to-consumer and e-commerce brands are looking for malls for physical retail space and the world is opening up again and digital brands are looking for an expanded presence in shoppers’ lives. Ethan Chernofsky, VP of Marketing at Placer.ai, the pedestrian traffic analytics firm, told PYMNTS in May that the integration will breathe new life into new vacancies and empty anchor stores.
The Ghost kitchen The idea gained prominence during the pandemic when people crouched and reached for their phones to place digital orders for meals, groceries, housewares, and more. In November last year, Chipotle and Red Lobster both introduced new store concepts based on app-based ordering and ghost kitchen concepts.
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NEW PYMNTS DATA: MAKING LOYALTY WORK FOR SMALL BUSINESS STUDY – UK EDITION
About the course: UK consumers see local shopping as key to supporting the economy and protecting the environment, but many local high street businesses struggle to get them on the door. In a new study, Making Loyalty Work For Small Businesses, PYMNTS surveyed 1,115 UK consumers to find out how offering personalized loyalty programs can help attract new high street shoppers.
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