Eat17 has dropped its retail offer by 25% at its Bishop’s Stortford store to make room for its street food market proposition.
Co-owner James Brundle said it wanted to explore its premium foodservice offer further, with both eat-in and takeaway options, by bringing in new vendors.
It now consists of six concessions, including Petrucci’s Pizza, The Chicken Hatch, Stortford Bakes, Carne Street Food, The Yeerologist, and Potterstreet Fishmongers. There is also a barbers and tattooist on site.
“We’ve always blurred the lines between retail and a restaurant offering,” said Brundle. “And now Bishop’s Stortford has turned into a full-fledged street food market.”
The 5,500 sq ft site in Hertfordshire opened in 2017 and started off with three street food concessions, representing a “half and half” mix to its retail offer. Brundle said they’ve still managed to cover all key categories across the retail side at the store, such as chilled, ambient and alcohol, just with “less room to work with”.
The majority of products are either locally sourced or have been produced by the business itself, with some coming from Spar.
“When we were growing the business, it was important for us to respond to shopper behaviour and try something different,” he added.
The models of its other sites in Hackney, Walthamstow and Hammersmith remain more retail, own label focused. The business explained it is currently searching for new sites in East London that will replicate this model. It said, however, it was important to take learnings from Bishop’s Stortford when adopting a smaller street food element to these stores.
“Moving forward, our focus is opening more neighbourhood, aspirational sites, with lots of local suppliers and a premium twist, in East London,” said Brundle.
“Our strapline is ‘not your average store’, and that’s what we want to offer for everyone that comes into our shops.”
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