Eataly

Eataly is a high-end Italian food market/mall chain comprising a variety of restaurants, food and beverage stations, bakery, and retail items. Eataly was founded by Oscar Farinetti, an entrepreneur, formerly involved in the consumer electronics business, and is sponsored by Slow Food.

Name

The name Eataly was coined by Celestino Ciocca, a brand strategy consultant who has worked for Texas Instruments as well as Ernst & Young. He first registered Eataly as a domain name on February 23, 2000 and as a trademark in June 2000. Celestino Ciocca sold (by his family company) all his rights to the name to Natale Farinetti on February 3, 2004 by public deed repertorio n° 96538 – raccolta n° 11510.

History

In January 2007, Italian businessman Oscar Farinetti converted a closed vermouth factory in Turin into the first location of Eataly.^[1] Eataly is located in the Lingotto district of Turin, and is easily accessible via the Lingotto metro station. The New York Times has described it as a "megastore" that "combines elements of a bustling European open market, a Whole-Foods-style supermarket, a high-end food court and a New Age learning center."^[2] Farinetti planned early on that additional stores would open elsewhere in Italy and in New York.^[2]

Eataly in New York City, September 2010

The Eataly in New York City is located near Madison Square Park,^[3][4] and owned by a partnership including Mario Batali, Lidia Bastianich and Joe Bastianich.^[5] It is over 50,000 square feet (4,600 m²) in size,^[6] and opened with a large amount of press coverage on August 31, 2010.^{[7][8][9][10]} Batali has described the place as a grocery store with tasting rooms. Mayor Michael Bloomberg attended the opening, praising Eataly for creating 300 new jobs.^[11] Two weeks after opening, there were still lines extending down Fifth Avenue to get into the store^[12] and it has since been very positively reviewed by the press.^[13][14][15] The New York Eataly was originally planned for a smaller space near Rockefeller Center.^[16]

The chain has additional locations in Italy, a few in Tokyo, and was also scouting for other locations as of 2010.^[17] In 2012 Eataly opened in Rome its largest megastore, in the abandoned Air Terminal building near Ostiense Station. There is an Eataly in the Porto Antico area in Genova.

On December 2, 2013, Eataly opened a new location at 43 E. Ohio St. in Chicago, on a 63,000 square foot retail space,^[18] making it the largest Eataly in the USA. The Chicago location is co-owned by Mario Batali and Joe Bastianich. The cost of the Chicago venture is estimated at $20 million. On March 18, 2014 Eataly opened its big 5,000 sqm store in Piazza XXV Aprile in Milan.

The founder Oscar Farinetti received the America Award of the Italy-USA Foundation in 2013.

On December 19, 2014, Eataly announced plans to purchase the Schrannenhalle in the Viktualienmarkt in downtown Munich, making it the first location in Germany.

Brand Stores

Among planned stores around the world: Boston, Hong Kong, London, Los Angeles, Mexico City, Moscow, Munich, New York City (2nd store), Paris, Philadelphia, Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, Sydney, Toronto, Washington DC.^[19][20][21]

References

External links

• Exploring Eataly (slideshow), and map, The New York Times (October 19, 2010), Celestino Ciocca - Eataly