Axios Charlotte

See inside: Wells Fargo opens food hall to entice workers back to the office

By Alexandria Sands,

2 days ago

Wells Fargo has opened a 20,000-square-foot, employees-only food hall on the first floor of its 550 S. Tryon building.

Why it matters: Wells Fargo can undeniably impact center city's vibrancy if it can entice its 15,000 Uptown workers back to the office — which could then influence other companies to refill the all-too-many barren skyscrapers.

Also, we are nosey and like to see inside other people's workplaces.

The food hall has been open for two weeks and serves lunch and breakfast, starting at 7:30am. During peak times, up to 11 orders are submitted per minute, says Minnette Curl, who oversees the bank's food service on the East Coast and London.

The fare is below market rate, so it's cheaper than most nearby restaurants.
A Milkbread is being built across the street.

Zoom out: Wells Fargo, a San Francisco-based bank with its largest employee base in Charlotte, is on year two of a five-year, $500 million plan to upgrade its Charlotte assets.

The bank transformed about 100,000 square feet at South Tryon, the martini glass-shaped building formerly called the Duke Energy Center, into employee amenity space. Around 6,000 employees are assigned to the tower.
"We're truly trying to set a new standard for employee-centric design," says Valerie Goble, executive director of design and construction.
Wells Fargo requires employees to show up in person at least three days a week. It employs 27,000 people in the Charlotte region.

Go deeper: Wells Fargo makes over some of Uptown's highest floors

Zoom in: The hall is an open kitchen design with seven areas, focused on different foods. Stations include a guest restaurant space, chef demonstrations with classes broadcast on Wells Fargo's internal network, and the in-house baker.

Workers can pre-order their grub on the Eatify app.
The hall has outlets, WiFi and about 250 seats.
Wells Fargo contracts the food service with Compass Group, a Charlotte-based company that also fuels UNC Charlotte students.
Although you need a badge to enter the food hall, a coffee stand directly outside the entrance is open to all. Wells Fargo uses Haerfest Coffee, a local roaster that employs people with disabilities.

Between the lines: Previously the area was back-of-house space for locker rooms and building management.

Construction management manager Emily van Zyl said the city's new unified development ordinance loosened restrictions to promote activating first-floor space in Uptown, which made the project easier to achieve.