Bay watch: Saluhall blends Scandinavian, local and plant-forward cuisine.
At last, some good news for San Francisco’s retail and food scene.
In a double first, IKEA sister business Ingka Centers officially opened its debut plant-forward 23,000-sq. ft. food hall and completed the first of its new mixed use Meeting Place concepts in downtown San Francisco this morning.
Despite the challenges besetting the city’s retail district, the Meeting Place, already partially open and anchored by an urban format IKEA and flexible working concept Hej!Workshop, delivered with specialist operator Industrious, was completed by Saluhall.
The offer, which was given a soft opening on Tuesday before fully opening its doors today, is intended as a “hub for San Francisco’s vibrant food scene” according to the Swedish-based real estate developer and features five independent local restaurants and chefs from the Bay Area, plus bars, an in-house Scandinavian-inspired bakery, vegan burger bar and soft-serve station, all of which will be open seven days a week.
Smörgåsland, the in-house bakery restaurant, has been developed alongside Claus Meyer & Ko, with the renowned Danish chef and entrepreneur helping to introduce Scandinavian-inspired, plant-forward dishes that are predominantly seasonally and locally sourced.
A cooking school has also been developed with Meyer, while food hall specialist Kerb is behind the wider food offer, split over two floors.
World First Saluhall
Ingka initally floated the idea of Saluhall around 18 months ago but San Francisco is the first city to see that concept realized anywhere around the world, with an offer that not only blends local and Scandinavian cuisines but also “nudges people” towards plant-based according to Ingka Centers managing director Cindy Andersen, who said the intention is to be encouraging but not dictatorial about vegan food.
Ingka operates 34 Meeting Places around the world, with several more in development. However, while in its Asian expansion markets India and China these tend to be large scale developments – with the next in line opening in China next week – in Europe and now North America the intention is for them to be largely urban, combining a city format IKEA, co-working and food.
The former 6×6 builing on Market Street now combines an IKEA, workspace and the new food hall.
In San Francisco, the company acquired the former 6×6 mall at 945 Market Street in September 2020 and the new format IKEA opened in the first phase in August 2023. Andwhile it may be the first, Andersen says it won’t be the last in the U.S.
“This is an iconic district and while the food hall has just opened, for us the work is just beginning, because we need to take the learnings from this and see how this blend of Scandi, local and plant-based food and drink works for customers,” she said. “We are looking at more locations around North America, but each destination may have different components depending on what the site requires.”
Urban IKEA Sites
Andersen was keen to stress that it is not a “one size fits all” concept, even if the basic building blocks may be used across its new European and U.S. urban sites as they roll out, with Brighton on England’s south coast the latest acquisition. Nor is she deterred by the travails that have hit San Francisco of late.
The Californian city’s core retail offer has been decimated amid accusations that CBD offices are empty and that the streets have been overrun with crime and drug taking, with a host of major retailers exiting the city and Westfield handing back the keys to its city center mall.
“We acquired the site several years ago and we have remained committed to the Bay Area,” Andersen stressed. “What has been encouraging is how quickly AI industries have started to come to San Francisco and we are already ahead of our projections for the co-working space, which is very encouraging.
“What we believe a food offer does is encourage people to visit more often and to interact with the location, because it is about not just eating but meeting,” she added.
