Skift Take
The eateries once commonly found in shopping malls and transportation hubs have been redeveloped conceptually as standalone halls commited to providing culinary diversity and supporting local businesses. Familiar chains are nowhere to be found at this current generation of design savvy food halls.
Conceptually, the idea of a food hall isn’t entirely new. Collections of local, varied food and beverage vendors in a dedicated retail space have been around for centuries, both globally and nationally.
Those that have persisted are often in urban centers, and, in the U.S., include spots like Pike Place Market in Seattle, established in 1907, Reading Terminal Market, in Philadelphia since 1893, and Boston’s Quincy Market, which dates back to 1742.
The food courts contained within shopping malls, airports, train stations, and department stores are undoubtedly familiar, too, and have been around for decades. But food halls in the most current sense are something inherently different. The National Retail Foundation helps to define them: “The definition of what constitutes a food hall is still being debated, but it’s generally accepted that ‘foodie culture’— including the farm-to-fork and slow food movements — is largely responsible for kickstarting the modern food hall concept... as is the push for experiential retailing.”
And it’s likely the Amazon Effect has played a role in shaping food halls, too. As e-commerce continues to change traditional brick-and-mortar models, accounting for an increasing percentage of retail spending with each passing year, retailers have been forced to keep up with the times. Shopp
