Not long after Revival Food Hall said they would close at the end of the month, an Atlanta-based hospitality management company announced Wednesday that it was taking over, effective immediately.
STHRN Hospitality, which manages similar food halls in Los Angeles, Atlanta, Cincinnati and other cities, will oversee Revival’s 14 vendors and the central bar in the National Building at 125 S. Clark St.
On Thursday, Kelly Campbell, one of STHRN’s partners, said the group is already “boots-on-the-ground” and meeting with each tenant to get up to speed as quickly as possible.
“We’re in place, we’re ready to support,” Campbell said. “The biggest thing (customers should know) is that the tenant Revival was replaced, but all the stalls are remaining the same and there will be no interruption in business. They’re a bunch of small businesses and great people and we want to make sure people have the right information.”
One of the city’s beloved indoor markets has been fielding the midday rush in the Loop for eight years. Vendors such as Sam Barron of The Fat Shallot are grateful for a smooth and painless transition as more and more downtown officegoers return to the workplace — and return for lunch.
“Revival before COVID was bonkers in a good way, packed to the gills Monday through Friday as fast as you could get food out, so it’s never like it was before saleswise, but the downtown presence has certainly recovered where we can have a viable, bustling business in the Loop again,” Barron said.
Barron and the owners of Danke, Uppercut Sandwich Co. and Aloha Poke are among Revival’s four founding vendors. He said the management transfer didn’t impact his operations.
“There was zero interruption on our day-to-day business customer-facing wise — we’re still The Fat Shallot, all the other vendors are still themselves with no changes in food or protocols,” he said.
Campbell said a rebranding of Revival, which opened in 2016, is in the works given the change in oversight, with a new name to be announced soon.
In an Instagram post last week, Revival Food Hall said it could not continue without better business terms from its landlord. However, the building’s landlord, CBRE, expressed its intention to keep operating the popular food court.
The announcement Wednesday made clear that the contract of Revival’s Chicago-based founder, 16oC, expired, and STHRN would be stepping in.
Matthew Sussman, owner of Danke, said he’s grateful that the last eight years working with the local group cemented his business as a cornerstone of Revival.
“We look forward to a new partnership, continuing to bake bread and serve our guests as the food hall enters its next chapter,” he said.
