Forbes Travel Guide editors named Raleigh one of 2017’s top 12 places to visit in the world. Though Raleigh has been commended over the years for its tech industry, urban living and startups, what made North Carolina’s capital city a must visit for the Forbes editors was the thriving food scene.
Eateries like Poole’s, Chef and the Farmer and The Durham Hotel have received a lot of that praise, but a growing bench of artisanal and niche food makers may draw attention once a trio of food halls open across the Triangle.
Food halls are an evolution of the traditional mall food court—local makers rather than national chains set up together in a shared space—and they’ve been popular so far in major markets like San Francisco, New York and Atlanta. According to Intuit, about 60% of restaurants fail by their third year in the $372 billion industry, which has caused both food makers and their investors to gravitate toward lower risk operations.
Food halls are appealing because they provide individual kitchen and retail space to small or startup businesses that want a permanent space to make and sell food, but might not have the resources to open a storefront of their own.
By the end of this year, halls in Durham, Raleigh and Chapel Hill will be open, with around 90 spaces for food makers to create, sell and market their products.
Marketing assistance is just one of the included perks food halls offer, and all three Triangle food halls plan to host events like outdoor concerts, cooking classes and themed weekend markets that are predicted to bring in large crowds.
Hanley’s Hibernian Company Inc. will also provide business services like accounting and financial planning to the Morgan Street Food Hall vendors.
As construction completion dates close in on the food halls, Willett feels encouraged by what could come of the support of likeminded entrepreneurs created from these shared spaces.
“To have these places and outlets to be heard, especially collectively and a big environment like this, I think gives [food entrepreneurs] a lot of opportunities going into 2017 and years beyond,” she says.
