Eataly Changes Retail

Eataly, which opened its first U.S. location in New York City in 2010, has changed the game for U.S. retailers by helping to bring back the concept of a food hall.

“We are trying to go back to the central markets of the past. What are they? They are meeting places,” said Adam Saper, managing partner and CFO of Eataly (pictured, far left). “No matter how much we do online, people want to come together.”

These projects are complicated and difficult to create — but when done well, settings like Eataly give visitors a unique experience in a unique place. “There is something to be said for shopping with all of your senses,” says Saper. “The really great projects are creating a sense of place.” Eataly, for example, often partners with local chefs and local food providers to make each of its new locations unique.

Other retailers have been quick to copy the concept — some with more success than others. “Now every salad bar is a food hall,” said Faith Hope Consolo, chairman of the Retail Group at Douglas Elliman Real Estate, who moderated a panel on retail spaces at Connect New York, held Sept. 19 2017 at The Underground, Rockefeller Center.

For comments, questions or concerns, please contact Bendix Anderson