Dire predictions of the death of American shopping malls may have some operators running from food courts, but Villa Enterprises Management sees opportunity there.
The Morristown, N.J.-based company operates and franchises around 400 restaurants, primarily in food courts or other high-traffic pedestrian gathering spots, including multiple concepts. Core brands include the pizza-focused Villa Italian Kitchen, the salad concept Green Leaf, the smoothie-and-yogurt chain Bananas, and the sandwich brand South Philly Steaks & Fries.
Smaller emerging brands include Sukotto Japanese Grill, Mo’ Burger, Far East Asian Fire and the Croissanterie.
Last year, when Sbarro closed 155 units after filing bankruptcy, Villa picked up nearly 50 of those locations and converted them to Villa Italian Kitchen units.
This year, Villa has a new approach. Rather than just putting one or two concepts into a mall, the company is taking over the entire dining space as a master lease operator. With concepts that range from Mexican to Japanese, Villa can fill the diverse needs of a food court operation from within its own stable of brands, said Adam Torine, Villa Enterprises’ executive vice president of development.
“That’s going to be a big push for us,” Torine said. “You have a true mall company taking on an entire mall.”
Last year, for example, Villa opened 10 concepts at the food court in Arizona Mills mall in Tempe, Ariz., a 14,280-square-foot space that was transformed and dubbed “Food Hall by Villa.”
In addition to its own concepts, the company included franchised units of other brands like Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf and Church’s Chicken.
Similar Food Halls by Villa have also opened in Leesburg, Va., and Bethlehem, Pa., the latter in a casino.
Torine does not agree with those who say shopping malls will be dinosaurs within the next few years. But he does admit that mall traffic has declined.
As a result, Villa is also looking to expand in other venues, like airports. Villa currently operates about 40 restaurants in airport locations. Last month, for example, two Villa Italian Kitchen units opened at LaGuardia Airport in New York. On Monday, a Villa Italian Kitchen unit opened at Pittsburgh International Airport, and last month, two more locations opened at LaGuardia Airport in New York.
In addition to the limited-service concepts, Villa also has a full-service division called 40North, which includes 12 single-unit restaurant concepts. The name “40North” refers to the latitude of both Morristown, N.J., where Villa is based, and Naples, Italy, where company founder Michele Scotto was born.
One of its concepts, The Office Tavern & Grill, was completely reworked over the past two years into a new prototype the company hopes to grow as a full-service option for airports. It offers 40 craft beers on tap, plus burgers, sandwiches and pastas.
“We’ve carved out a little niche with this concept and it may be right to take into airports in the future,” Torine said.
Villa is also in acquisition mode, Torine said. The company could purchase a new brand, or one that could be converted to an existing concept.
Last year, Torine estimated that Villa opened about 70 locations, including the converted Sbarro units, but it was a record year, he said. In 2015, it expects to open about half as many locations.
“We want smart growth,” he said. “If we were all about being the biggest, we’d have a lot more locations, but we’re more about slow, methodical growth.”
This story has been revised to reflect the following correction:
Correction: April 6, 2015 An earlier version of this story misstated Adam Torine's title. He is executive vice president of development for Villa Enterprises Management.
Contact Lisa Jennings at [email protected].
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