After a couple years that have seen many restaurants launch their first packaged products, entrepreneur and media personality Martha Stewart is going the opposite direction.
After decades of success with her culinary content, and months after launching the Martha Stewart Kitchen line of frozen foods at 10,000 stores, Stewart announced Wednesday (Jan. 5) the launch of her first restaurant. The Bedford by Martha Stewart is slated to open in the spring at Caesars Entertainment’s Paris Las Vegas.
“[The restaurant] will very accurately portray the important aesthetic and taste of the Martha Stewart Brand,” Stewart said in a statement. “Our menu will be delicious, depicting the very same kinds of foods I serve my friends and family.”
On three separate occasions, the news release refers to the establishment as the “first-ever” Martha Stewart restaurant, implying intentions from the outset to open more restaurants down the line. Moreover, the venture is spearheaded by Marquee Brands, owner of the Martha Stewart brand since 2019 and the company that fronting the aggressive push to establish a presence in all grocery categories.
“We don’t see why she can’t have soups and dressings and baking mixes and fresh bakery and deli — down the line, we think we will put her in just about every product,” Ken Venturi, CEO and founder at Martha Stewart Kitchen, told PYMNTS in an interview earlier last year. “We have a long, controlled growth model. But ultimately, we see her being very versatile across multiple aisles in the grocery store and the mass retailer.”
Read more: Martha Stewart Aims To Take On Every Aisle Of The Grocery Store
It would seem that Marquee’s intentions for the Martha Stewart brand are wide-reaching, aiming to expand quickly.
In fact, this first restaurant is already being designed with a model that would be easily replicated in other locales, offering an experience that is far less Vegas and far more Martha. The restaurant’s menu will rotate seasonally and will feature ingredients from a mix of Stewart’s favorite suppliers and local producers, and the interior is meant to replicate the look of Stewart’s farmhouse.
“The architecture and decoration of the spaces cleverly exemplify the beauty and atmosphere you might find at my beautiful farm in Bedford, New York,” Stewart said.
Additionally, Marquee has experience running brands that combine packaged foods, kitchenware and fine dining experiences. The company’s portfolio also includes Emeril Lagasse’s brand, which does just that, pairing its high-end restaurants with its consumer goods line. The restaurant line in particular, however, appears to have been hard-hit by the pandemic, with the restaurant count decreasing from 11 with a twelfth on the way, according to Marquee’s site, to nine, per the count on the Emeril’s Restaurants site.
Still, if the omicron wave subsides, there is reason to believe that now would be a good time for Martha Stewart to be getting into the space.
According to United States Census Bureau data for November, the most recent month on record, nationwide seasonally adjusted sales at food services and drinking places was up 13% relative to 2019. Plus, the restaurant’s target audience — those enjoying a trip to Las Vegas — likely are not the same consumers motivated by contagion concerns to stay at home. If The Bedford is a success, it would not be surprising to see similar such restaurants open at other major U.S. destinations in the near future.
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