Kitchen United’s latest venture will attempt to turn staid mall food courts into omnichannel meal hubs fit for the modern age.
But the ghost kitchen company’s technology could ultimately do the same thing for the malls themselves.
As we reported last week, Kitchen United is partnering with big mall owner Simon Property Group to bring its services to malls. Food court restaurants will start using KU’s technology to accept takeout and delivery orders, with support from Kitchen United staff.
The program, called Grab Go Eat, will start at two malls. But it will eventually extend to more of Simon’s 195 locations.
And it comes with an intriguing wrinkle: KU’s technology could one day be used to enable online ordering from mall shops as well as restaurants.
“Our vision for it is that we’re building physical and technological infrastructure that powers Simon malls for off-premise,” Kitchen United Michael Montagano told me. “It certainly is the underlying framework for something much larger.”
That would be an upgrade for malls that have struggled to adapt to the shift to online shopping, especially during the pandemic. A recent Moody’s analysis found that about 20% of the nation’s roughly 1,000 malls will likely either close or undergo major overhauls. The industry’s decline has also hurt restaurants.
Grab Go Eat is an example of how malls are reinventing themselves. Kitchen United’s Mix system essentially digitizes the food court experience, allowing customers to browse and order from multiple restaurants online in one fell swoop.
Now extrapolate that concept across the entire mall, and you have what is essentially an Amazon warehouse that’s open to the public. While one customer hits a few stores and lunches in the food court, another could be sitting at home, filling their digital cart with a scented candle, a pair of pants, an Orange Julius and an Auntie Anne’s pretzel, with all of it delivered to their doorstep shortly thereafter.
Even Amazon can’t do that.
Similar technology does exist at some malls. But to my surprise, it’s still relatively new. An October 2020 press release from mall owner Centennial heralds a new feature called Shop Now! as the “first-to-market U.S. omnichannel shopping platform.”
Customers can use Shop Now! to browse mall inventory (including restaurants) online, then place an order for curbside or in-store pickup, or delivery.
“The new Shop Now! platform transforms each Centennial mall into a mini-Amazon,” said Jesse Michael, managing director of Shop Now! developer Adeptmind, in a statement at the time.
Simon, which owns about 20% of U.S. malls, appears to be going after something similar with Kitchen United. It could be a game-changer for both companies.