As the hospitality landscape continues to evolve post-COVID, Ariana Serna of Enclave Co-working caught up with top leaders in the hospitality industry to discuss top trends they're seeing in the industry. These women discussed trends including a strong focus on the suburban consumer, the desire for spaces that are multifunctional and social, and the positive impact city-wide conferences are having on these spaces.

"A growing trend that we're seeing is the emphasis on the suburban consumer," Ariana Serna, Head of Sales and Marketing at Enclave told Illinois Business Daily. "Restaurants like Fajita Pete's and Le Colonial are opening up in the suburbs to meet the growing demand of suburban communities who would prefer to stay close to home, but still want access to amazing places."

A majority of the leaders' conversations were centered around the co-working industry's focus on the suburban consumer. "What we've learned about the suburban professional, for example, is that they are career-oriented, but spending time with family and staying close to home is important to them too," Serna said. "Enclave has a network of co-working spaces in the suburbs to address this need- so that members don't have to trade time with family for a commute downtown." 

Enclave is a co-working lounge and social club that strives to be more than just a place of work, but also a place of community and socialization. With locations across the Chicagoland, Enclave offers consumers a variety of workspace options, including private phone rooms, shared spaces, and conference rooms to reserve for larger meetings, while the lounge area offers comfortable couches and social spaces for a more relaxed feel.

Other co-working spaces that also seek to provide consumers with multifunctional and social spaces include Soho House, which has locations worldwide, Mox.E, which is located in Chicago, and Guild Row, also located in Chicago.

"We’ve seen an increased desire from our membership for spaces that are multifunctional," Al Kelly, Club Director at Guild Row said. "Our members don’t just want a co-working space, they want a space where they can create community. They want the socialization of the office so we’re striving to give them that."

The four leaders also discussed the fact that as larger conferences are on the rise, they've been providing a boost to co-working venues. "Inspired by the future of work trends caused by the pandemic, Mox.E Co-working in the South Loop has seen an increase within the past year from tourism and city-wide conferences having a positive effect on small boutique spaces such as ours," Haley Garcia, Community Manager at Mox.E said. "I believe we also owe it to the boom of corporate initiatives focusing on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion."

According to its website, Enclave can be found in Naperville, Glen Ellyn, Oak Park, Downers Grove, Arlington Heights, Wilmette, Highland Park, and Lake Forest.