The six million-square-foot behemoth known as Industry City has been steadily growing its list of snazzy tenants flocking to the as-yet-unhyped neighborhood of Sunset Park. Along the waterfront, startups, manufacturing companies and even food commissaries are throwing down big bucks on an investment that the neighborhood will be the next big destination for people looking to dispose of their income in a variety of ways.
The food program in particular has been given a boost of street cred with The Food Hall, a fledgling Chelsea Market-type model with a handful of tenants—both established and up-and-coming—hoping that biding their time for these lean years will be a big reward when everyone's priced out in the next five years. Heck, even Smorgasburg is betting big on Industry City.
Below, a profile of six such food companies making a go of it off the D, N and R trains.
ONE GIRL COOKIES, Dave Crofton: Chef/Owner
What's your business? What do you make/sell? How long has it been around? We've been around for 14 years and specialize in gift boxes of tea cookies. We also make cakes, cupcakes, whoopie pies, wedding cakes and a ton of other baked goods. For breafkast, we make our own yogurt and butter—seriously!—as well as granola muffins and scones. We have an amazing coffee program, too, not to be missed. We have only been in Industry City for six months.
What's the mix of retail versus production that you do there? 90% production, 10% retail.
Why did you choose Industry City? What were/are your hopes for the area? I have high hopes that it will become a destination for business/weekday customers, as well as weekend visitors. We chose Industry City because it has good access to the subway and there were large spaces available for our commercial kitchen.
How is business in the Food Hall? Who are your customers? Are you getting visitors from the larger neighborhood or mostly workers from the offices? It started slow, but our business has been growing slowly. Right now, almost all of the customers are people that work at Industry City, but like I said, we hope that will slowly start to change as the area becomes more popular.
What have been the challenges of operating in Industry City? We are definitely interested in increasing the amount of foot traffic for the Food Hall. There is a lot of great food places, but we need more hungry mouths.
Do you expect to stay there for another year? Five years? Long haul. Ten years at least...
One Girl Cookies operates two other cafes, one in Dumbo (33 Main Street, 347-338-1268) and one in Cobble Hill (68 Dean Street, 212-675-4996)
ENDS MEAT, John Ratliff, Owner
What's your business? What do you make/sell? Whole animal salumeria and sandwich shop; Italian style dry cured meats. As a salumeria, we butcher, cure, age and sell all of our house-made products. We source locally-raised, sustainable whole animals and distribute them via salumi, fresh out of the case, EM Club and sandwiches. Our EM Club is a CSA style 3 month membership where members collect a pound of pork, chicken and beef in a rotation based on what's available from the whole animal weekly.
Our storefront doubles as a sandwich and sides shop, as well as a hybrid butcher shop that focuses on dry aged beef and our 18 dried salumis. We've been doing this for the past four years but have only been in Industry City for five months.
What's the mix of retail versus production that you do there? 50/50.
Why did you choose Industry City? What were/are your hopes for the area? Exciting new area that has a large potential for growth. Hoping to get busy!
How is business in the Food Hall? Who are your customers? Monday through Friday is great at lunch for people who work in the buildings.
With all the food halls popping up in New York, do you think you will open in more of them in the future? Yes, it's a captive audience and can have a larger draw than a singular space.
What have been the challenges of operating in Industry City? Che constriction of only attracting lunch business Mon-Fri.
Do you expect to stay there for another year? Five years? I expect to be here for 15 years.
BLUE MARBLE ICE CREAM, Sarah Green, Markets and Events Manager
What’s your business? What do you make/sell? How long has it been around? Blue Marble is New York City's only certified organic ice cream. We source the best ingredients resulting in a super-premium product that is sure to be enjoyed and stand above the rest. It was founded in 2007 by Jennie Dundas and Alexis Miesen.
How long have you been in Industry City? We've been in IC since 2011—we were one of the first and only tenants here at the time.
What’s the mix of retail versus production that you do there? Up until about three months ago, Industry City was only home to our offices and production space. We recently renovated everything and expanded, opening a small retail space in the food hall from which we offer scooped ice cream with an array of toppings, milkshakes, or hand packed pints for those that want to enjoy at home.
Why did you choose Industry City? What were/are your hopes for the area? At the time, it was mostly undeveloped but it was apparent there were big plans for the area and we were excited to get in on the ground floor and be able to grow into the space. Unlike some of the other locations we looked at, Industry City allowed us our own loading dock, which is crucial to our operations, and also worked closely with us to create a space that would allow Blue Marble to function at its highest level.
How is business in the Food Hall? Who are your customers? Are you getting visitors from the larger neighborhood or mostly workers from the offices? Right now, the food hall is still very much growing and being discovered. As with any store, there are days that are better than others, but as a whole we've developed a core group of customers (mainly people who work within Industry City) that have made a scoop of ice cream a part of their lunchtime routine. There are a few events that are pushed to the public, like Open Studios, American Field, and Mister Sunday that certainly draw large crowds to Industry City, but we've yet to really see the effect of these people coming back throughout the week....hopefully soon though!
Does your business have other locations? Are they Brick & Mortar or other food halls? We have two other brick and mortar locations in Brooklyn, one in Prospect Heights at 186 Underhill Ave. and the other in Cobble Hill at 196 Court St. You can also find us Saturday at Williamsburg Smorgasburg and the Fort Greene Flea and Sunday at Breeze Hill Smorgasburg and Williamsburg Flea. Throughout the summer season we have two locations on Governors Island, as well as a booth at Rumsey Field in Central Park for Summerstage concerts.
With all the food halls popping up in New York, do you think you will open in more of them in the future? Why or why not? I guess you should never say never, but right now we are very content with the locations we currently occupy. Ice cream is such a seasonal treat that it really can be a hit or miss. We're lucky enough to have three full-time locations that have all been hits, so I think we'd rather continue to focus our energy into what we have and keep making them better rather than expanding at this time.
What have been the challenges of operating in Industry City? The first thing that comes to mind would be the sporadic electrical outages that have been happening. It's an old complex so it's inevitable that the system will fail now and again, but as an ice cream company, we depend on electricity more than most. Working to keep our freezers at the right temperature so we don't loose any product has proven to be a challenge but one that we have luckily dealt with and rebounded from quite well.
Do you expect to stay there for another year? Five years? We have really made Industry City our home and hope to continue operations out of here as long as our business allows. As the food hall grows and more and more people come, the more it feels like a large family and we're very thankful and proud to be a part of such a bustling and innovative space.
RECAFO
What’s your business? What do you make/sell? How long has it been around? ReCaFo is a fast casual restaurant company that specializes in authentic Jamaican food. Our mission is to bring great tasting Caribbean food outside of traditional ethnic markets to the masses in a simplified and lean menu. We pride ourselves on great service, mouthwatering food and making a positive impact in the community through charity. We officially started in summer 2013 at the Long Island City Flea & Food Market and have since expanded to 2 locations.
How long have you been in Industry City? We did a pop-up in Industry City in April 2014 and this proved to be highly successful. We thereafter took the decision to expand our company by opening a second location here in January 2015.
What’s the mix of retail versus production that you do there? Where is the cooking done? Here at Industry City our operations involves a mix of retail and production for both of our locations. Retail is carried out in the Food Hall located in Building 2 on 36th Street and our production is currently done in a rented commercial kitchen space in Building 4 on 35th Street.
Why did you choose Industry City? What were/are your hopes for the area? Our presence here at Industry City can be considered destiny in some ways. We opened our first location at the Falchi Building located in LIC in November 2013, and were invited to showcase our offerings at an event here in Industry City in April 2014 as both buildings are partially owned by Jamestown Properties. Upon that visit, we were offered the opportunity to open a location in the Food Hall due to the positive feedback from tenants, plus, the owners were also in the early days of expanding their food retail options. We were delighted about the prospects and decided to make the leap and open our second location here.
Our hopes for the area are all positive. With many young, hip, innovative and even established companies signing leases for office and production spaces in the complex, there's a promising future for us and other retailers in the Food Hall, as these ventures will bring many new patrons to the area. Also, the Sunset Park/Park Slope communities are growing neighborhoods bringing in millennials, families and workers who are seeking great food options.
How is business in the Food Hall? Who are your customers? Are you getting visitors from the larger neighborhood or mostly workers from the offices? Business in the Food Hall fluctuates depending on the day. At the moment, a huge percentage of our customers are from within Industry City; with that in mind, we decided to do our own external marketing efforts, and this has resulted in us attracting customers outside the complex, but there's still a lot of growth in this area. Many locales aren't aware of the Food Hall due to it being isolated from the general public. However, with events being hosted regularly in our building and others, the community is slowly learning about our location.
Does your business have other locations? Are they Brick & Mortar or other food halls? We have another location in Long Island City at the Falchi Building. It is the same Food Hall setup like Industry City.
With all the food halls popping up in New York, do you think you will open in more of them in the future? Why or why not? Currently, we're seeking a brick & mortar storefront for our (3rd) next location. The Food Hall model has its pros but also its cons. It's hard to build an identity for yourself and really grow a restaurant business to its full potential being only located in Food Halls. It limits your reach and especially here in Industry City, relies heavily on the turnout of tenants and their workers within the buildings, which can be devastating for your bottom line during holiday periods and over the weekends.
Do you expect to stay there for another year? Five years? We'll be here for the foreseeable future.
LIDDABIT SWEETS, Liz Gutman, Co-founder
What’s your business? What do you make/sell? How long has it been around? We're Liddabit Sweets, and we make small-batch candy bars, caramels, and other confections and baked goods. We started selling at the Brooklyn Flea in 2009, and now have our kitchen and retail space in Industry City, as well as our Chelsea Market shop.
How long have you been in Industry City? We started buildout in April 2014, were fully operational by that August, and opened our retail store that October.
What's the mix of retail versus production that you do there? We're mostly a production and office/storage space; a little over 10% of our space accounts for the retail shop.
Why did you choose Industry City? What were/are your hopes for the area? We really loved the space itself; high ceilings, natural sunlight, ground floor location, easy access to loading docks. Our space was completely empty when we were looking at it, so we got to carve out our own floor plan and build it out to our specs, which was great. We've seen a lot of changes over the years (we used to work in a commissary kitchen one block over), and even since we've been here in Building 2 there have been so many improvements. It's been great see all our neighbors moving in, and meet new food people who are making such delicious stuff. Plus we get to be right next door to Blue Marble, who both make amazing ice cream and are business heroes of ours.
How is business in the Food Hall? Who are your customers? Are you getting visitors from the larger neighborhood or mostly workers from the offices? Most of our customers right now are tenants in the building, so we're mainly open for breakfast and lunch. When we do classes and tours, we'll open for those; and sometimes we catch a few folks visiting from other parts of Brooklyn or New York, but weekends are still pretty slow. We're definitely seeing that pick up, especially when there are events like Open Studios, Rooftop Films, and various other showings and markets. The holiday market last year was awesome, we can't wait for this year's!
Does your business have other locations? Are they Brick & Mortar or other food halls? We have one other location in Chelsea Market.
With all the food halls popping up in New York, do you think you will open in more of them in the future? Why or why not? That's a really good question, and I only have a very vague answer! We're not looking to expand retail right this second, but have considered it pretty thoroughly; there are distinct pros and cons to each option, and we'd have to weigh all the variables (timing, funds, location, etc) closer to when we'd want to open a new location. It really depends.
What have been the challenges of operating in Industry City? The slow foot traffic has been the main challenge; but we knew going into it that our retail location was more an investment in the future than something we expected to immediately take off. We're excited to see the changes to the complex in the coming years, and to meet some of our NYC friends who will be willing to make the trek out here when it starts jumping off.
Do you expect to stay there for another year? Five years? We expect to stay here at least another three to five years.
We couldn't make an interview with the Taco Mix team a reality, but it would be criminal not to mention their expansion into Brooklyn from their cubbyhole space in Spanish Harlem. With more room to play with, the team have been able to increase their production of exemplary tacos, burritos, and tortas. Their crowning jewel, as always: their signature al pastor, slow-roasted, marinated pork that's juicy with just a touch of sweetness.
The Food Hall is located adjacent to planted courtyard and Factory Floor event space at Industry City, located at 36th Street between 2nd and 3rd Avenues in Sunset Park.
Clay Williams is a photographer and blogger based in Brooklyn. He has shot assignments for the New York Times, Food Republic and the Edible Communities titles, among other publications. Follow him as @UltraClay on Instagram and Twitter.
