Plan for Synergy
The first time I visited the Reading Terminal Market in 2014, I was pleasantly confused and stimulated. I was taking pictures left and right. I couldn’t decide what to eat. I also wanted to buy all kinds of food to take home, cookbooks to peruse, and quaint kitchen utensils to experiment with. As I sat down to eat, I was still looking around, afraid that I might have missed a stall where I should have purchased my meal instead. But it was a happy, positive kind of energy that I felt. I could feel the synergy in the way the different components of the place worked well, together.
READING TERMINAL MARKET, PHILADELPHIA
SYNERGY OF COLORS, SIGNAGES, & VARIETY OF FOOD OFFERING
“The Reading Terminal’s stalls and kiosks exist in close proximity, each adjacent to one or two others and across the aisle from still others. Concentrated as they are, these stores compete for passing customers, as different vendors offer goods to fill similar appetites or desires.... the stalls complement one another, each playing off the others and enhancing the viability of all. Most importantly, together they generate a certain synergy, producing a cosmopolitan zone that attracts more and more people who come here and enjoy the pleasant atmosphere...”
— Reading Terminal Market
The Cosmopolitan Canopy [1] page 58
Reading Terminal Market, Philadelphia
Charcuterie and sandwich stall
Synergy is an increased benefit or positive energy which comes out of combining two or more factors. In creative placemaking, Markusen-Gadwa advocated working for vibrancy, which she defined as the synergy which is created by putting together people, activity, and value in a particular place [5].
Kurland and Aleci traced the changes in the meaning of synergy for public markets. In the early 20th century synergy meant adapting to the growers in terms of operating hours and accommodation of products [4]. In the 21st century, synergy in public markets meant adapting to the customers, in terms of longer operating hours, predictability of access, and maximizing foot traffic [4]. Today, US consumers attribute synergy to food markets, citing the collaborative energy which these markets give [2].
“Besides shopping, consumers gravitate towards food markets because of the invigorating atmosphere found in food halls, arcades and emporiums. 60% of consumers surveyed for this report said they like to roam around with a beverage and absorb the whole environment of the market. 62% of the consumers surveyed said that they love the collaborative energy at a food market.”
— Culinary Visions Panel
Food Market Culture Report 2017 [2]
SYNERGY FROM VENDORS, SHOPPERS, AND DINERS COMING TOGETHER, IN ONE PLACE
FOOD HALLS AROUND THE WORLD
How do we plan for synergy in a food hall? In describing the Reading Terminal Food Hall, Anderson identified ways by which the food hall was able to achieve synergy [1]. First, he observed that the stalls and kiosks are located close to each other (i.e., physical proximity). Second, similar stalls are located side by side (i.e., competition). Third, the layout of the stalls allowed customers to shop, eat, and observe others, all at the same time (i.e., complementary).
Granville Market, Vancouver
Fresh produce stand, right across the fresh seafood stall
Eastern Market, Washington DC
Fresh flower stand complementing the variety of food choices
GRANVILLE PUBLIC MARKET, VANCOUVER
SYNERGY COMING FROM COLORS OF SIGNAGES, BEAUTIFUL DESIGN OF STALLS, & ARRAY OF FOOD AVAILABLE
This synergy that Anderson perceived at the Reading Terminal Market wasn’t created overnight, though. Alfonso Morales, in his article on Public Markets as Community Development Tools, identified planning at multiple levels as the main factor which allowed for synergy to happen in a market environment [6]. In planning for market synergy, Morales recommended the following strategies: (1) encourage integration of immigrants as vendors, as they will bring in unique products and habits from their country of origin; (2) understand who starts food businesses in the community and why; (3) work with neighborhood groups in identifying market locations and vendors; and (4) forge relationships with other community stakeholders like chambers of commerce, micro-entrepreneurs, incubators, non-profit organizations, etc. [6].
“It’s not yet breakfast time and I’m standing in one of the best food markets in the world — a combination of conditions a psychotherapist might call my “happy place”. Lucky food travellers tell of the Tsukiji in Tokyo, the Ferry Building in San Francisco or the Rialto markets in Venice but La Boqueria in Rambla Sant Josep, Barcelona, knocks spots off them all. Under a threadwork of cast iron and glass, dozens of stands sell superlative Mediterranean fish, the sort of veg that would make a food stylist dribble, some of the most expensive charcuterie in the world and slabs of meat apparently butchered by surgeons. Whenever I make a pilgrimage here, I have to stand for a few minutes and just let the crashing wave of culinary opulence beat me flat.”
— Barcelona’s Market Forca, The Financial Times [3]
Synergy is probably one of the hardest things to accomplish, in planning for and operating a food hall for the community. It takes thoughtful planning, in terms of how to physically lay-out the different stalls. In choosing the vendors, it takes a lot of research and engagement with the community. Even when the food hall is operating, one needs to continuously monitor and evaluate, to ensure that the synergy is maintained. Synergy is also a function of the economic viability of the market, which in turn is partly influenced by the number, frequency, and length of stay of visitors. Over-all, synergy is the positive energy which is generated in a food hall by a good balance and diversity of visitors, vendors, workers, and food experience.
Sources:
Elijah Anderson, The Cosmopolitan Canopy: Race and Civility in Everyday Life (New York, New York, W.W. Norton & Co., c 2011. 1st ed.).
'Food Market Culture Report', (Culinary Visions Panel 2017).
Tim Hayward, 'Barcelona's Market Forca', in Financial Times (London, United Kingdom, 2015).
Nancy B. Kurland and Linda S. Aleci, 'From Civic Institution to Community Place: The Meaning of the Public Market in Modern America', Agriculture and Human Values, 32 (2015), 505-21.
Ann Markusen and Anne Gadwa, 'Creative Placemaking', ed. by National Endowment for the Arts (2010).
Alfonso Morales, 'Public Markets as Community Development Tools', Journal of Planning Education and Research, 28 (2008), 426-40.