Mars, Incorporated's Cheez-It brand is opening a dedicated food court stall inside Westfield Topanga Mall in Los Angeles from September 2 through September 30, partnering with Chain — the American Pop Cuisine concept founded by B.J. Novak — to run what the brand is calling the Cheez-It Court. The stall is the inaugural brand-partner slot in Chain's six-month food court residency, and it puts a documented CPG experiential playbook on full display: short-term footprint, ingredient-forward menu builds, and a nostalgia hook engineered for social sharing.
For operators and foodservice buyers, the structure here is worth studying. Cheez-It is not just slapping a logo on a napkin holder. The three-item menu — a Cheez-It Extra Cheesy-seasoned cinnamon roll (Cheez-Y-Bun), a panko-and-cracker-crusted Wagyu corn dog (Crunchy Cheez-Dog), and a cracker-seasoned hoagie-roll cheesesteak (Cheez-Steak) — each uses the branded product as a functional ingredient in the crust, seasoning, or topping. That distinction matters for any operator evaluating ingredient co-brand partnerships: the CPG product has to earn its place on the plate, not just on the signage.
The Residency Model
Chain's six-month residency format at Westfield Topanga is itself an operator intelligence signal. The model gives a rotating cast of brand partners a ready-made production environment — kitchen infrastructure, foot traffic, and a built-in media narrative — without the capital commitment of a standalone buildout. For regional and national CPG brands looking to move beyond sampling events and into true foodservice trial, a structured residency program offers a scalable, lower-risk entry point. Nicole Sorensen, VP of Marketing for Cheez-It, noted that the activation follows prior IRL executions including Studio Cheez and the Cheez-In Diner — confirming that experiential foodservice is now a repeating line item in the brand's marketing budget, not a one-off stunt.
The Y2K and mall-nostalgia framing is also calculated. Chain Chief Creative Officer Nicholas Kraft described the appeal plainly: a younger generation is discovering in-person gathering in retail environments that an older generation took for granted. That observation tracks with broader foot traffic data showing renewed consumer interest in enclosed mall formats, particularly among Gen Z shoppers who treat the experience as discovery-led rather than destination-purchase-driven. For foodservice operators already located in or adjacent to mall properties, that shift in consumer behavior is an opening — especially if the food program can generate its own social content loop.
What This Signals for Operators
The Cheez-It Court activation illustrates a brand launch mechanic that food and beverage suppliers are increasingly deploying: use a short-term, high-design foodservice environment to generate earned media, capture user-generated content, and validate menu applications before committing to a permanent SKU or licensed menu rollout. The recipes are slated to publish on CheezIt.com after the grand opening — converting a physical experience into a long-tail digital content asset.
For operators evaluating similar co-brand or ingredient-partnership conversations with CPG vendors, this model sets a new bar for creative integration. The days of a cheese brand simply sponsoring a menu category are giving way to fully co-developed menu items where the branded ingredient is visible, functional, and photographable. If you're in a high-traffic retail or mixed-use environment and a supplier approaches you about a residency or branded stall concept, the Cheez-It Court gives you a concrete benchmark for what execution-ready looks like — and what the CPG partner should bring to the table beyond a check.
Operators and vendors tracking brand launch strategy in foodservice should note that the post-activation recipe release also functions as a low-cost retail sampling substitute, extending reach to consumers who never set foot in the Canoga Park mall.
Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.
