Currently under construction, PPL Center is scheduled for a soft opening, Sept. 1. (Photo by Comcast-Spectacor)
It may be designed for hockey, but PPL Center in Allentown, Pa., is shaping up to be a home run for Philadelphia-based Comcast-Spectacor, with four of the company's entities involved in the venue. The arena will serve as the home for the American Hockey League’s Lehigh Valley (Pa.) Phantoms. BDH Development, the master leaseholders of PPL Center, recently signed Ovations Food Service to a 10-year contract to bring the company’s Everything’s Fresh approach to PPL Center, which is scheduled to open with a concert by The Eagles, Sept. 12.
The facility will begin with soft opening events Sept. 1. Having a few months of planning time benefits Ovations.
“Any time you can be involved from the ground up and you can plan the food service equipment around your concept is extremely helpful,” said Linda Recke, regional VP at Ovations. She said the Everything’s Fresh concept applies not only to food, but also to how the company approaches business. What it means inside the venue specifically is that patrons are served fresh food.
“You won’t see anything prewrapped, sitting in bun warmers. Everything will come straight off the grill and to the customer,” said Recke. “You won’t have food that’s sitting there drying out or getting cold.”
“It’s basic: hot food hot, cold food cold,” she added.
There is also a focus on adding options for patrons who are interested in more than hot dogs, including considerations for special diets and high-end fare.
“Ovations has a reputation of creativity and top-notch food varieties,” said Jim Brooks of BDH Development in a press release. Brooks and his brother own the Phantoms. “We have discussed offering options for all types of diets and desires, including vegetarian, gluten free, and others.”
The offerings at PPL Center will also include the first full-service licensing deal of Philadelphia staple Chickie’s & Pete’s, best known for their Crabfries®.
The sports bar has a history with the Phantoms, having several locations at the team’s two previous venues, Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia and the Wachovia Spectrum, which was demolished in 2009.
“We’re really looking forward to being back with the Phantoms and being part of the revitalization of Allentown,” said Owner Pete Ciarrocchi.
The decision to launch a full-service restaurant was buoyed both by the company’s history with the team, and the Allentown market.
“It’s a very similar makeup with the people there as it is here in Philadelphia: blue collar, hard-working, die-hard sports fans,” said Chickie’s & Pete’s COO Roger Falloon. “When the opportunity presented itself, it really made sense.”
The restaurant brand will also benefit from getting involved early, with PPL Center even reaching out to use the architects who built Chickie’s & Pete’s, L2Partridge.
That’s not the only thing that will promote consistency. Though the outlet will be staffed and run by Ovations, Ciarrocchi is bullish about the quality of his products.
“At these venues, we’ll send a team out to work with them and train them who will not leave until the product is right,” he said. “Consistency is key, and we’ll have mystery shoppers and everything.”
“You have to do it right; that’s how you get more properties,” he added.
Chickie's & Pete's signature Crabfries®. (Photo by Chickie's & Pete's)
The restaurant will be open to the public, so even those without a ticket can watch a game from Chickie’s & Pete’s. It will also stay open on nongame days. The company has a standard agreement in place to receive a percentage of profits for 10 years, although, according to Ciarrocchi, that’s just the beginning.
“As long as there’s a team, we’ll be there,” he said, adding only two Chickie’s & Pete’s properties at facilities have ever closed, and that was only when the venues were demolished.
“As long as people have an appetite, we’ll take care of it,” he added.
Other properties within the facility will include a Tim Hortons and a wood-fire pizza concept, Crust.
“Tim Hortons is a Canadian franchise, but bodes really well with the hockey crowd,” said Recke, who added that the idea for Crust was born between Ovations and the Brooks brothers. The food service company is in the process of designing the concept’s menu and logo.
Recke said she’s particularly excited to be working with other Comcast-Spectacor companies.
BDH Development has also contracted with Comcast-Spectacor entities Global Spectrum for facility management, New Era Tickets for ticketing services, and Front Row Marketing Services to bring in ancillary income.
“Any time we have our sister companies in with us it’s always a benefit,” Recke added. “There are synergies with all of us working together.”
Ike Richman, VP of Public Relations for Comcast-Spectacor, said that the company has been making an effort to get more ‘home runs.’
The Philadelphia-based company is, to use a baseball analogy, looking to "grow its business by leveraging its relationships in the accounts in which it either manages a facility, provides food and beverage services, provides ticketing (through New Era Tickets or Paciolan) or sells ancillary income by turning a single into a double, triple, or even home run,” added Richman.
Currently, about nine percent of all Comcast-Spectacor accounts use all four entities and fall under the ‘home run’ category.
Gunnar Fox, a nine-year Global Spectrum employee, will serve as GM of PPL Center.
Interviewed for this story: Jim Brooks, (610) 533-4264; Pete Ciarrocchi and Roger Falloon, (215) 604-9960; Linda Recke, (813) 909-2178 x123; Ike Richman, (215) 389-9552