LAS VEGAS—Retail as entertainment is certainly not a new concept, however the role of entertainment retail, especially in food and beverage has changed. That is according to panelists at ICSC's RECon 2017 event on Tuesday.
“Today's consumers want to develop relationships with brands that listen and deliver a personalized, customized experience,” panelists said. They pointed out that the heightened focus on both crafting and curating guest experiences has created mixed-use environments that act as a “third place” to gather and build community. And in order to successfully execute on the new model of where food and beverage acts as a defining “anchor,” everyone must embrace the journey—from developers to tenants to architects to landlords.
According to panelist Mario Bauer, executive board member of Vapiano SE, based in Bonn, Germany, food chains and landlords need to help each other. “Consultants need to be brought in to help and you have to involve them early.”
And not only is creating and curating the experience important, but operating it well is key. “Retail brands and property owners must understand and respond to these trends,” panelists agreed.
Because of the efficiency in the market, and everyone delivering food, it has added an additional competition, said one panelist. “Good kept you in business four years ago in the restaurant world, but today, it has to be great.”
George Banks, partner of Revel in Atlanta, talked a bit about food halls as a tenant model, and noted that “somebody would lose money. One of the three people will lose money.” He continued to note that he prefers the multi-tenant food hall version. “I think the consumer likes that concept.”
GlobeSt.com also recently chatted with Tony Cho, founder and CEO of Metro 1, on the subject. “The fact that shopping has become so convenient and easy to do from home is motivating retailers and developers to cultivate progressive concepts that involve food and beverage, entertainment and social interaction,” he tells GlobeSt.com. “Consumers must be enticed to spend gas, parking costs and time to actually travel to shopping centers and these centers must become social scenes in order to accomplish that.”
And strong entertainment and food and beverage attractors are important to getting customers to retail locations, centers and malls, he adds. “Creative businesses and one of a kind boutique are also a major draw.”
And when we touched base with Robert Cohen, vice chairman of RKF, he said that in the retail space right now, food and beverage is king. “It's driving a lot of retail leasing and merchandising choices. We're seeing this not only on a standard footprint for fast-casual and QSRs, but landlords and developers are now trying to repurpose bigger boxes.”
He added that they are creating food halls, backed by a celebrity chef. “Also, pioneering markets like Whole Foods Market are starting to get anchor positions now,” Cohen tells GlobeSt.com.
“Developers are integrating the infrastructure—plumbing and ventilation chases, for example, from the beginning.”
Aside from food and beverage, other retail bright spots he pointed to include off-price retail. “The outlet category is still performing very well,” he said. “Multi-brand cosmetics and athleisure also continue to do well.”
And for other thoughts from experts who are attending ICSC RECon event here in Las Vegas and to learn more about panel coverage from the event, check out the articles below.
LAS VEGAS—Retail as entertainment is certainly not a new concept, however the role of entertainment retail, especially in food and beverage has changed. That is according to panelists at ICSC's RECon 2017 event on Tuesday.
“Today's consumers want to develop relationships with brands that listen and deliver a personalized, customized experience,” panelists said. They pointed out that the heightened focus on both crafting and curating guest experiences has created mixed-use environments that act as a “third place” to gather and build community. And in order to successfully execute on the new model of where food and beverage acts as a defining “anchor,” everyone must embrace the journey—from developers to tenants to architects to landlords.
According to panelist Mario Bauer, executive board member of Vapiano SE, based in Bonn, Germany, food chains and landlords need to help each other. “Consultants need to be brought in to help and you have to involve them early.”
And not only is creating and curating the experience important, but operating it well is key. “Retail brands and property owners must understand and respond to these trends,” panelists agreed.
Because of the efficiency in the market, and everyone delivering food, it has added an additional competition, said one panelist. “Good kept you in business four years ago in the restaurant world, but today, it has to be great.”
George Banks, partner of Revel in Atlanta, talked a bit about food halls as a tenant model, and noted that “somebody would lose money. One of the three people will lose money.” He continued to note that he prefers the multi-tenant food hall version. “I think the consumer likes that concept.”
GlobeSt.com also recently chatted with Tony Cho, founder and CEO of Metro 1, on the subject. “The fact that shopping has become so convenient and easy to do from home is motivating retailers and developers to cultivate progressive concepts that involve food and beverage, entertainment and social interaction,” he tells GlobeSt.com. “Consumers must be enticed to spend gas, parking costs and time to actually travel to shopping centers and these centers must become social scenes in order to accomplish that.”
And strong entertainment and food and beverage attractors are important to getting customers to retail locations, centers and malls, he adds. “Creative businesses and one of a kind boutique are also a major draw.”
And when we touched base with Robert Cohen, vice chairman of RKF, he said that in the retail space right now, food and beverage is king. “It's driving a lot of retail leasing and merchandising choices. We're seeing this not only on a standard footprint for fast-casual and QSRs, but landlords and developers are now trying to repurpose bigger boxes.”
He added that they are creating food halls, backed by a celebrity chef. “Also, pioneering markets like
“Developers are integrating the infrastructure—plumbing and ventilation chases, for example, from the beginning.”
Aside from food and beverage, other retail bright spots he pointed to include off-price retail. “The outlet category is still performing very well,” he said. “Multi-brand cosmetics and athleisure also continue to do well.”
And for other thoughts from experts who are attending ICSC RECon event here in Las Vegas and to learn more about panel coverage from the event, check out the articles below.
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Natalie Dolce
Natalie Dolce, editor-in-chief of GlobeSt.com, is responsible for working with editorial staff, freelancers and senior management to help plan the overarching vision that encompasses GlobeSt.com, including short-term and long-term goals for the website, how content integrates through the company’s other product lines and the overall quality of content. Previously she served as national executive editor and editor of the West Coast region for GlobeSt.com and Real Estate Forum, and was responsible for coverage of news and information pertaining to that vital real estate region. Prior to moving out to the Southern California office, she was Northeast bureau chief, covering New York City for GlobeSt.com. Her background includes a stint at InStyle Magazine, and as managing editor with New York Press, an alternative weekly New York City paper. In her career, she has also covered a variety of beats for M magazine, Arthur Frommer's Budget Travel, FashionLedge.com, and Co-Ed magazine. Dolce has also freelanced for a number of publications, including MSNBC.com and Museums New York magazine.
