Is 1-800-Lucky a c-store, a record store or a food hall? The answer is all of the above and none of the above.
Co-founder Sven Vogtland refers to the 10,000-square-foot concept, in the Wynwood neighborhood of Miami, as a “mixed-use experience.” About 1,100 square feet of the experience is a bodega carrying Asian- and American-brand candy and snacks, cigarettes, toilet paper and other grocery items. It’s connected to a vinyl record store, which opens into the main course: a food hall filled with seven of the hottest Asian concepts from around the world.
Think whole Peking duck from New York’s Lotus + Cleaver, ramen from Japan’s Shimuja and banh mi sandwiches from Miami’s Les Banh Amis. One of the most popular items is soft-serve ice cream served in a fish-shaped waffle cone from Taiyaki of New York.
Vogtland, who has a background as a food and beverage director for luxury hotels, does not like defining 1-800-Lucky. “We never really thought of it as a food hall—we just tried to use the space in the best way possible,” he says. And each component fills a need. The bodega, for example, was included because Wynwood did not have a corner store where he could pick up quick necessities and treats.
“Sometimes you just have to do more,” says Vogtland. “I could have just opened a retail bodega—but I don’t think that would have been enough. I would have opened a retail bodega with a sushi counter, or a DJ and records playing. In this day and age, it’s all been done before. You just have to think outside of the box and be different.”
1-800-Lucky is part bodega, part record store and part Asian food-hall concept.
Photograph courtesy of Taiyaki