Page 2 - Florida Sentinel 10-30-20

Feature
‘Hall On Franklin’ Owner Expanding His Unique Restaurant Concept To 3 New Cities To Start
BY MONIQUE STAMPS Sentinel Feature Writer
Jamal Wilson, owner and proprietor of Hall On Franklin, has always looked ahead to dis- cover what he wanted to do next. Originally from New Jer- sey, he studied pre-law at Amherst College in Massachu- setts. After graduation, Wil- son put his law career on the shelf and decided to play bas- ketball professionally. He was the all-time leading scorer for his college team and decided to play basketball professionally in Europe and for the CBA for five and a half years. After his basketball career was over, he decided to come to Tampa and explore real estate.
After working for a local real estate company for a cou- ple of years, Wilson’s strong
JAMAL WILSON ...Owner of Hall On Franklin
entrepreneurial spirit took over and he opened his own real es-
tate and mortgage company. The company did well, weath- ering the 2008 financial crisis when many did not. He sold the firm to a local credit union in 2013 and began indulging in a new love – flipping houses. His new venture allowed him freedom to choose the projects that excited him and work with people he hand-picked. During that time, his two sons were born, and he started dreaming again.
While settling down with two children, Wilson decided he wanted something more permanent and long-standing as his legacy. Although he was a successful house flipper, he wanted more. He went to his extended friends and family and told them that he had a certain amount of money and despite the cyclical nature of
the market, he had to try to ful- fill his dream of building and owning something uniquely his. His cousin suggested food halls.
Wilson was intrigued. He spent the next six months trav- eling around the country and visiting every food hall he could find. He fell in love with the idea. It was more of a real estate endeavor than a restau- rant model where he felt more comfortable.
He was sold on the food hall concept, but something nagged at him. In the typical food hall scenario, customers still had to get up and order their food from each separate vendor. If you wanted food from different places, it meant standing in separate lines. You then had to get up again and get your food when it was ready. Wilson felt this model was a drawback and he knew what to do to change it.
“What if you ordered like a regular restaurant, but from seven different menus? You could choose any combination of items from any restaurant, and someone would take your order and deliver it to your table?” Wilson pondered. That was the difference and that is why Jamal Wilson changed the food hall business.
After scouting locations, he decided that Tampa was the place. Tampa needed a new in- novative concept for a restau- rant, serving a diversity of cuisines from around the world. He approached the proj- ect confidently. His last house flip was a 5,000 square unit home that was gutted to the studs and built back up. That gave him the confidence to take an 8,000 square foot project, gut it, and create the Hall on Franklin. Although there are other food halls in Tampa, none provide the restaurant level service.
In addition to the restau- rant experience, Hall on Franklin also has remote workspaces, free secure Wi-Fi, and child friendly seating dur- ing the day. At night they offer live music, happy hours, and late-night menus. On the week- ends, it is brunch and more live music. There are also accom- modations for special celebra- tions.
It has not been all sunshine and roses though. When asked about COVID, Wilson men- tioned when they opened the Hall on Franklin, Hurricane Harry had just hit and there
was no electricity for days. Of course, COVID is much worse and has cost Hall on Franklin 50% of its business until the re- cent re-openings under Gov- ernor DeSantis. However, Wilson remains positive.
Wilson states, “I promised myself during the 2008 crisis that if I went through anything like this again (such as COVID), the business decisions and deals I made during the crisis would be the deals to build my business into the next 20 years.” Wilson is doing ex- actly that by expanding his business responsibly. As the only full-service food hall in the country, Wilson has been looking to expand with a strong identity and “have an eye on the urban core” of the city.
In the first quarter of 2021, Wilson is opening two new venues, the Hall on Ashford Lane in Atlanta and the Hall on The Yard in Orlando. Later in 2021, he is creating the Hall on Midtown in Tampa’s new Midtown space near Dale Mabry and I-275. He has signed a lease for the Hall on Central in St. Petersburg. That venue will be coming as soon as COVID and accessibility as- sessments are made. Wilson is also looking at Nashville and other locations across the country, with the goal of having 25 to 30 more locations. He loves what he does and wants to continue. Wilson also sees himself as possibly an hotelier. There is a dearth of black- owned hotels in the nation, and Wilson thinks that may be an option.
For young Black entrepre- neurs, Wilson wants to make it clear that he does not think of himself as someone special. He believes that there are very few people who are true ge- niuses. The rest of us must de- termine our level of commitment. A person’s ab- solute commitment to their goals and working hard are the foundation for success.
Wilson also believes in a strong support system and he does not define what the sup- port system must look like. Wilson says that his success did not come from him work- ing in a bubble, the support of family and friends were crucial to his success. Wilson is em- phatic when he states that he is no different than anyone else. If anything, he is willing to fail to move forward. He wants young people to keep working on their dreams.
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