The high profitability of summer verandas of restaurants encourages catering operators to open their establishments in Moscow city parks: in three years, the seats in the largest of them have increased by 21%. This allowed some market players to offset losses from pandemic restrictions. But parks were far from being in demand for all restaurateurs: business is frightened off by difficulties in obtaining an alcoholic license.
In the eight largest parks in Moscow, 18.9 thousand seats for catering establishments are concentrated, for three years this figure has increased by 21%, according to a study by Knight Frank. Analysts attribute this growth to the growing popularity of green areas against the background of Muscovites’ interest in a healthy lifestyle: parks have significantly expanded their audience and are no longer perceived as a place of attraction only for families with children. Of the total number of seats, 41% (7.8 thousand) are seasonal and are available exclusively in the warm season (from April 1 to November 1), the company adds.
Valeria Gvozdeva, Deputy Director of the Colliers Street Retail Department, also notes the growing interest of catering operators in parks. She adds that the segment is also developing due to the emergence of new formats, citing as an example the “restoparking” of 12 food trucks in Gorky Park. Igor Bukharov, President of the Federation of Restaurateurs and Hoteliers of Russia, notes that the demand for catering establishments in parks has increased against the background of their reconstruction, adding that many sites, thanks to the opening of skating rinks, have switched to an all-season operation.
According to Knight Frank, VDNKh became the leader in the number of seats among Moscow parks – 5.7 thousand, of which 37% are seasonal. Analysts associate interest in the site on the part of catering operators with a large share of the youth audience (25–45 years old). The average check at VDNKh is 1,000 rubles. There are 4.5 thousand places in Gorky Park, but more than half of them are available only in summer. Here the highest average check is 1.26 thousand rubles. In Sokolniki, 3.9 thousand places are now available, in winter their number will decrease by a third. Park guests spend on average almost 900 rubles in establishments. The lowest average check, according to Knight Frank, is now in the Kuzminsky forest park – 540 rubles.
Irina Kozina, director of street retail at Knight Frank, says that now many restaurateurs are increasing the volume of seats on summer verandas: over the past three years, their total number in Moscow parks has increased by 3.6%. This is due to the high profitability: the revenue of the owners of restaurants with summer verandas on average increases by 55%, and in popular places with high traffic, the increase is fivefold, she notes. This tactic played into the hands of establishments during the period of restrictions in the summer of 2021, when the presence of freely functioning open areas helped to neutralize the drop in traffic due to the QR code system. An additional factor of sustainability, Mrs. Kozina calls a large share of street food establishments that provide for a to-go format.
Igor Bukharov says that the parks are looking for restaurateurs, focusing on their own development concepts. Valeria Gvozdeva adds that the lease rights for non-stationary retail facilities are distributed annually within the framework of tenders from the mayor’s office. Such sites are cheaper for restaurateurs than usual street retail premises and cost an average of 18-90 thousand rubles. per month.
Anton Belykh, CEO of DNA Realty, is sure that park areas are not suitable for all restaurateurs. Among the risk factors, the expert names the inability to obtain an alcoholic license. “Many establishments have separate restrictions on the sale of alcohol in their lease agreements,” he says. In addition, the expert believes that many restaurateurs are fundamentally not ready to cooperate with the mayor’s office. “It is easier for a business to build relationships with a private owner, these agreements can be amended, while it is very difficult to come to an agreement with officials,” sums up Mr. Belykh.