To understand who the main actors in our story are, could you explain the role you play in the project and who are its founders?
Arvis Zēmanis, Head of Burzma marketing & events:
I joined the project when Burzma was in its infancy. I was invited by Kirson Design Group, an architecture and interior design company, and the founders – Latvian property developer CBRE Baltics, Baltic Horizon and Galerija Centrs – to assist in their concept. At that stage it was important to understand what Burzma was about, who our guests were going to be and how they would feel in this space. My task was to create a branding and event strategy to address these qualms.
Burzma has only been around for ten months, but it seems like everyone already knows about it. Did you ever doubt that the food hall format would catch on in Riga?
Never, both the creators and the KDG team had no doubts. There was nothing to base this hypothesis on: there has never been a food hall of this format in Riga. There is one similar place in Tallinn and one in Vilnius. It seemed to us that we had on obvious recipe for success: the old town, cool view, lots of people who like to walk here and a lot of restaurants in one place.
But there were those who didn’t believe in us. They said: “If you were on the ground floor, maybe, but you’re all the way on the fourth floor! They won’t want to reach you”. We thought otherwise – if it was the ground floor, it would just be a place to walk through, not Burzma.
What does “burzma” mean?
Bustle. In Latvian, it describes the feeling one gets when there are a lot of things to do and people to see. It’s joyful: this is what we experience, for example, when we are at a music festival, or when we buy presents in a crowded shopping centre.
In general, it’s about hustle, about togetherness and having fun. It’s a big party for everyone.
We chose the name carefully and the best copywriter in the city worked with us. We had several options on the short-list, but we decided on a Latvian word that expresses “us” perfectly.
That’s very cool. Was this the idea for Burzma from the very beginning, or did something change along the way?
When the concept was created, we had a huge document between the whole team – we collected everything we wanted to know about Burzma. The document was labelled “The Best Food Hall Ever” That was, and still is, the main idea, alongside what the name implies.
Aside from that, it was a long journey. As an example, there was at one point the idea to create cooking masterclasses in the space. But then, as is the norm, you come back down to earth a little bit, think how to use space more effectively, and have to let some things go.
It’s important to emphasise that the creators of the project were brave enough to hear and accept a variety of risky and bold ideas. As a rule, it’s quite difficult to create a serious B2B business with a team of creatives like myself. Although, that might have been the secret to our success.
Tell us about your residents. How did it come about that you have this specific selection of restaurants today?
The main rule is diversity. We will never have two restaurants with a similar concept. That means there won’t be two burger joints, two pizzerias or two sushi places.
The second rule is that we assemble interesting and trendy places with an established reputation. However, these are not always preexisting restaurants: for Bao, we were their first physical location, before that they only operated as street food takeaways. That isn’t the only example. We have already helped some of our residents to grow.
Were you successful from the very beginning?
In terms of financial success – unequivocally yes. From the very beginning we had many, many visitors, we had a real “burzma”, nobody expected that. It turns out that Latvians are quite fond of the idea of not having waiters, and they fell in love with us over other places for this freedom. Well, the beautiful views of the Old Town didn’t hurt either.
In terms of success behind the scenes, we had a lot of difficulties, precisely because of our rapidly growing popularity. The residents were taken by surprise and weren’t fully prepared for so many guests. Some had to alter their strategies and adapt.
We talk a lot with the residents about this exact ability. Burzma is constantly growing and changing. It’s crucial to accept this and develop together.
Do you have a vision for the future of Burzma?
We have ideas about what we would like to add to the project. For example, even though we don’t have space for new restaurants at the moment, we are thinking about creating pop-up spaces. Personally, I miss kebabs. And ice cream.
We’re also working on events. For example, in November we organised the “Hot Wings Challenge” – anyone could come to try as many as 10 spicy dishes. It was a real “chilli party”. Keep an eye on our website for updates, we’ll be coming up with many more interesting occasions.
We will, of course, still adhere to the basics: it’s important to us that people come to a beautiful place, have a great time and everyone finds something they love – even though we all enjoy different things.
