Time Out Group To Shutter Boston, Chicago Food Halls
London-based Time Out Group announced it will close its food halls in Boston's Fenway and Chicago's Fulton Market neighborhoods later this month.
The food hall operator and digital media brand company announced the closures on Wednesday morning, citing lagging foot traffic and high operating costs.
The halls are set to close on Jan. 23.
In almost identical statements announcing the two closures, Time Out Market CEO Michael Marlay said the two factors combined to prevent "consistent profitability."
"We are proud to have been able to give our vendors a platform in Time Out Market, we will continue to champion these outstanding, best of the city talents," Marlay said.
The closures will impact 15 food vendors in Boston and 19 in Chicago.
Though the food halls are shutting down, the company's digital brands Time Out Boston and Time Out Chicago will still have a presence in the cities.
Both markets opened their doors in 2019, right before the pandemic.
In Boston's Fenway neighborhood, the market opened on the 25K SF ground floor at 401 Park Drive, which was then owned by Samuels & Associates. The property was later bought by Alexandria Real Estate Equities as part of a bigger $1.5B deal.
Time Out Boston General Manager Michael Minichello told The Boston Globe in 2022 that the pandemic had put a damper on the market's success.
In Chicago's Fulton Market, the food hall opened in a 50K SF location at 916 W. Fulton Market, which is owned by Luxembourg-based Lagfin. Lagfin acquired the property in 2023 for some $36M and partnered with developer R2 to manage the market.
R2 is already at work attempting to either find a new tenant or reposition the space on behalf of the landlord, according to Crain's Chicago Business.
Time Out opened its first location in 2014 in Lisbon, Portugal. It first expanded into the United States in Miami in 2018. That location later closed in June 2023.
Time Out experienced a period of rapid expansion after the pandemic, opening additional locations in Portugal and New York City and inaugural locations in Spain, Japan and Hungary.
The company has four other markets listed as future developments: Vancouver, Canada; Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates; Prague, Czech Republic; and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
The company's two New York City locations are the only remaining markets in the United States.
The food hall scene has exploded over the past decade. The number of halls grew from 75 in 2015 to close to 350 by 2023, according to Garrick Brown Real Estate Consulting. However, the business trend has been hit or miss for operators, especially after the pandemic gave rise to hybrid and remote work, causing foot traffic to drop at offices.
