Politan Turns 10!
What a trip it has been! Politan turned 10 years old earlier this month. During that decade, we have designed, built, managed, and sold food halls all over the US and internationally. Our first food hall was the hardest, as there are lessons one learns in any new business. In 2014, our industry barely existed in the US, so we found ourselves making many decisions that later became common place in the industry.
A decade later, our strategy has evolved as the business has evolved. We’ve become better by staying very close to our existing operations and attuned to our customers and their preferences. While there is a pressure on new industries to define a consistent operating model that could be replicated anywhere, this can be a lot harder than it seems, especially in retail food and beverage. For example, the recent proliferation of Wonder, a well-funded, virtual food hall upstart has had notable issues with consistency of offering. A recent NYT food critic visited the proliferating expansion locations of Carbone and found that, for the most part, the quality and value of the original is absent from the new projects. All this to say that replicating real estate positions, guest experience, service, and quality is a notoriously difficult managerial problem.
Over the years a ton of effort has been dedicated to the “technology stack” for food halls. Even more effort has been expended on mechanicals and optimization of construction cost. However, when a food hall didn’t work, we largely didn’t hear anyone blame it on the technology or HVAC. The reasons people cite for food halls going sideways (or being great) are the same things we look for in any retail experience:
Location, visibility, and access
Offering and price point
Customer service
And, lately, the all-encompassing moniker of “vibe”
A decade in, food halls cannot expect to survive while also violating one of the above customer promises. They have to work from a hospitality perspective for an experientially-minded consumer in a competitive environment. But there’s good news: food halls are fun, vibrant, and rewarding businesses. And they’ve outlasted ghost kitchens, virtual food halls, and meal kits, while also using (losing?) a lot less venture capital.
Food halls are difficult to operate at scale because of the number of participants and the importance of relationships. That’s not to say it can’t be done, but it has vanquished more challengers than it has rewarded. However, that can easily be said of retail food and beverage on the whole. The best examples of success in the food hall business have paired excellent locational decision-making with seasoned people managers. But one still has to get the rest of the above things right.
We love this business. Politan’s operational future will involve intentional, sustainable growth where we can be impactful for our employees, guests, and chefs. Moreover, our knowledge about operational systems, real estate selection, financial processes, deal structures, relationship management, beverage operations, and concept curation can live beyond our direct operational control. In our second decade, Politan is offering a franchise program that is overseen by our actual operating partners. If a dynamic, but sustainable hospitality operation is something you’ve dreamed of opening, consider reaching out to us to learn more.
For now, we hope you’ll visit us in one of our dining rooms soon! Cheers to another 10!
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Politan Group specializes in operating food halls, bars, and bars within food halls. We also provide remote accounting, HR, and administration for food halls. If you are thinking of building a food hall or need help with an aspect of a food hall you already own, reach out to us. Politan is the most-awarded food hall operator in the industry.