A New York City restaurant chain profits from a shrinking office crowd

Naya’s Middle Eastern food generates more revenue that before the epidemic. Strong sales are seen on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

Naya is a fast-casual restaurant chain that sells Middle Eastern cuisine. It’s thriving in Manhattan’s Midtown Office neighborhood.

Kastle Systems collects data about how many workers swipe into office building doors. According to this information, Naya’s majority of locations are near office towers. They cater to the office crowd. With New, this is a very difficult area to be in. York City The office occupancy rate remained about 40% below pre-pandemic levels.

According to Naya founder Hady Kfoury, the restaurant is generating higher weekday sales this year than it did in 2019, fueled mostly by the Tuesday-through-Thursday lunch crowd. Naya’s rising popularity for its salads, wraps, and bowls show that even though office occupancy rates have fallen to pre-recession levels substantially, some companies might still thrive.

“When people came back to work, they were hungry for our food,” stated Mr. Kfoury.

Naya’s success can be attributed to its lunches at $15, which is a bargain in Manhattan, when inflation is driving up food prices everywhere. Andrew Moger, vice chair at Ripco Real estate and an investor in Naya, said that many of the Middle Eastern dishes are hard to recreate at home.

Others contend that Midtown operators have lost so many of their customers due to the transition to remote or hybrid employment. Those who have remained, however, can attract more clients. According to a city According to a review by the comptroller’s bureau of federal statistics, Manhattan saw a net loss of 820 food- and beverage outlets in the fourth quarters 2019 and 2021.

Naya also offers wraps and salads as a lunch option.

These new conditions are not favorable for all fast-casual restaurant. According to the firm’s data, Shake Shack’s Midtown locations have seen a 40% drop in weekday lunch and dinner visits compared to 2019. Sweetgreen Inc. reduced its fiscal 2022 projections this Week, citing low office occupancy in cities as a reason for lower second quarter revenues.

Although New York’s office occupancy has been increasing in recent months, Midtown foot traffic is still much lower than it was three-years ago. However, the Naya location on Madison Avenue and 52nd Street was packed on Tuesday afternoon. The majority of lunchtime customers were dressed in business casual. To pick up online orders, delivery drivers were wearing helmets and sped into the building.

Nick Rosato (20), a summer intern at Swiss bank UBS said that he eats at Naya twice to three times per week. “I adore it.” It’s delicious. It’s healthier. He said, “It’s also fast and easy.”

According to Mr. Kfoury at the start of the epidemic, Naya fired all staff members and closed the restaurant for several months. Shops that were previously earning $15,000 per day were only breaking even when he opened them again in June 2020.

Mr. Kfoury obtained financing through the government Paycheck Protection Program, and negotiated an agreement with TriSpan to finance the chain’s rapid development. Naya’s sites should be profitable once again by September 2021.

Mr. Kfoury was the one who opened his first restaurant in New. York City 2008: He claimed that he had leverage in the market as a tenant and negotiated strongly with landlords. Tenant upgrades were often included in new contracts, as well as drastically reduced rents for the first two year.

Mr. Moger stated that it was dangerous to increase Manhattan’s office space while empty buildings were still around. Naya’s investors could be sure of a high return on their investment, however, as additional stores were much more affordable. He stated that his gamble in Midtown paid off with Naya’s sales reaching pre-pandemic levels.

Naya isn’t only one eatery that has made a comeback. According to Craig Deitelzweig, CEO Marx Realty, Little Collins is a sandwich and coffee shop that has large lines at its office near Grand Central Terminal.

Little Collins received a temporary break from his business by accepting 8% of sales as an alternative to monthly rent when it was launched in the difficult spring of 2020. The sales at the sandwich and coffee shop were so strong that Mr. Deitelzweig claimed he made more during the year-long agreement than under the terms of the original lease.

Kfoury indicated that he is currently looking for candidates outside of office areas. Naya already has locations at Penn Station’s Moynihan Train Hall as well as the Brookfield Place shopping center near the World Trade Center. Mr. Kfoury stated that these sites are open seven day a week and attract business from neighbors and visitors to Naya’s Midtown locations.

Naya also plans to expand into the suburbs. According to Mr. Kfoury Naya plans to open a facility at Paramus, New Jersey this fall, and another in Darien Connecticut by December or early next. He says he will open 10 more stores by 2023, 60% of which in the suburbs.

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