Levy Restaurants has launched
Curiology, a design agency combining all resources within the Chicago concessions firm to improve the food and drink experience at sports facilities.
The new group, a wholly owned subsidiary of Levy, is headed by Brian Graziano, Curiology’s vice president of experience, design and innovation. Graziano, on board since October, spent the previous 11 years at IA Collaborative, a Chicago agency that counts Nike, Gatorade, FedEx and Johnson & Johnson among its clients.
For Levy Restaurants’ new initiative, Graziano leads a division of 25 employees, including Alison Weber, Curiology’s chief creative officer and a 24-year Levy veteran.
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Curiology helped bring Big Star tacos to United Center.
Photo by: KENA KRUTSINGER / CHICAGO BULLS
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Weber says Curiology takes the next step beyond Levy’s former Innovations group, which focused on food service concepts at arenas and stadiums. It works closely with
E15, Levy’s 2-year-old analytics group, as well as the firm’s operations, finance and human resources groups, to take a more holistic approach to building food and beverage programs, extending from concession stand design and menu development to the look of employee uniforms.
Graziano said the idea is to develop greater integration in all of Levy’s disciplines, compared with the typical separation of those services and the “baton handoff” approach.
Levy’s program falls in line with other food vendors such as Aramark that have in-house design groups, consultant Chris Bigelow said.
“Historically, the concessionaire worked with the team’s architect and graphics design firm to create the spaces,” Bigelow said. “Now they want to have more input into the process to combine aesthetics and revenue production. It’s also a chance for them to be involved in the projects earlier, when teams are just starting to consider renovations or new construction, before the business deal is put together.”
In its early stages, Curiology made its presence felt at Chicago’s United Center, where Levy Restaurants runs the food. The agency helped form Chicago’s Plate, a new program bringing more local brands into the 22-year-old building. They include Big Star tacos, influenced by the city’s Mexican street food scene.
“You can’t get into the [Wicker Park neighborhood] restaurant because it’s so busy, but we have it at the UC,” Weber said. “United Center has the highest per caps in the NBA and NHL, and there’s been a 40 percent uptick in fans arriving early and eating at the arena.”
> L.A. STORY: Three construction groups are competing to build the Los Angeles Rams’ new stadium, which, at $2.5 billion in hard costs, stands as the most expensive sports development.
Two groups involve experienced builders of NFL stadiums forming joint ventures for the project, according to sources. Turner Construction has teamed with Hunt Construction, and Skanska has joined forces with Webcor, a major San Francisco contractor that built the $321 million renovation of Cal’s Memorial Stadium.
Tutor Perini, a single contractor based in California, is the third competitor.
Notably, Mortenson is not in the mix. The Minnesota firm and general contractor for U.S. Bank Stadium, which becomes the NFL’s newest stadium when it opens this summer in Minneapolis, decided not to pursue the Rams’ project because of a heavy workload of big league and college projects, company officials said.
In addition to finishing the Vikings’ stadium, Mortenson is set to break ground in June on the Milwaukee Bucks’ new arena, followed by Chase Center, the Golden State Warriors’ arena in San Francisco, in January.
Elsewhere in the Twin Cities, Mortenson is working on Target Center renovations; the University of Minnesota’s $150 million Athletes Village, encompassing new practice facilities for football and men’s basketball; and a proposed MLS stadium in St. Paul.
“We weren’t comfortable with going after the Los Angeles stadium,” said Logan Gerken, Mortenson’s director of project development. Mortenson officials felt they would be at risk trying to get everything done on time in addition to tackling the Rams’ development, Gerken said.
For the Rams project, the deadline for submitting proposals is June 13, with interviews scheduled for the week of June 20. A selection should be made by July 1, sources said.
Don Muret can be reached at dmuret@sportsbusinessjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter @breakground.
