Consultant Hired to Tempt Mall Appetites

Phyllis Ann Marshall, who helped create the popular Mr. Stox restaurant in Anaheim, has signed on to consult with Minneapolis-based General Growth Management, one of the nation’s largest shopping center management companies.

Marshall’s FoodPower consulting firm will try to help bolster sales at mall food courts around the country. She will be working with individual merchants to help improve menus, operations and customer service. Marshall, an instructor at the UCI Extension Restaurant Management Program, also is a restaurant reviewer for Orange Coast magazine.

“The excitement for me is that retail developers are realizing the incredible importance of food in their malls,” Marshall said. “In the past, food was seen as an amenity. They really didn’t want to bother with food services.”

Greg Johnson covers retail businesses and restaurants for The Times. He can be reached at (714) 966-5950 and at [email protected].