Carley Espinoza
Carley Espinoza covers branded openings and venue debuts within retail-led destinations, with a recurring focus on food operators as they enter new shopping centres and regions. Her work tracks how specific concepts, from dessert cafés to quick-service brands, anchor tenant mixes and refresh the offer in established schemes.
Retail and leisure tenant openings
Across her coverage for A1 Retail Magazine, Espinoza reports on new brands joining major retail and leisure destinations, treating each opening as part of a broader placemaking and asset strategy. In her piece on Fluffy Fluffy and Chopstix, she details how both operators are joining centre:mk for regional debuts, framing the announcement around the centre’s evolving line-up and its appeal to visitors. Her headlines and story structure typically highlight the venue first, then the tenant, and then the scale or “first” status of the move, underlining her attention to the relationship between landlord ambition and operator expansion.
Food-led concepts in mixed-use environments
Food operators are a consistent thread in Espinoza’s reporting, particularly where they are positioned as destination drivers rather than stand-alone units. In coverage of Fluffy Fluffy’s arrival at centre:mk, she picks out the brand’s appeal as a specialist dessert offer and sets it alongside Chopstix’s quick-service format, showing how different food concepts are curated to broaden dwell time and demographic reach. This focus on food within the wider retail mix reflects a beat that sits at the intersection of hospitality and retail, looking at how dining brands contribute to the commercial and experiential strategy of malls, retail parks and city-centre schemes.
Events and trade show news for the retail sector
Espinoza also writes show and event news that connects brand activity to the calendar of industry gatherings. In her coverage of Spring Fair 2026, she reports on the show’s emphasis on “newness” and the record number of brands exhibiting, tying that message to buyer demand for what is coming next in gift, home and fashion. In a separate piece on Sol Rashidi’s keynote at ISE 2026, she introduces the speaker’s role and the themes of AI, leadership and cybersecurity for the retail and technology audience. These event pieces are straightforward news reports, but they share the same lens as her tenant coverage: they identify how content, speakers and exhibiting brands help retail professionals navigate change in consumer expectations and store strategy.
Retail industry positioning and role
Within the masthead, Espinoza is closely involved with A1 Retail Magazine’s output and is listed on contact and team information as part of the core group. Her presence across venue-opening stories and show news positions her as a regular byline on items that matter to retail operators, landlords and suppliers rather than consumer-facing features. The emphasis in her work is on clear, factual reporting that gives stakeholders the essentials on who is opening where, what the offer adds to a destination, and which events and keynotes are shaping conversation in the sector. The tone is concise and promotional-neutral, making her stories useful reference points for anyone tracking brand roll-outs and sector events.
4 more food journalists.
Adam Maidment
Adam Maidment is a senior What's On and LGBTQ+ reporter whose food and leisure coverage is built around immersive, first-person reporting and concrete detail. He works at the Manchester Evening News, focusing on new restaurant and bar openings, regular food reviews, gig and event coverage, and issues affecting LGBTQ+ people. He treats restaurants, pubs, bars and experiences as stories about place, people and community, explaining what makes a venue different and how it fits into the local dining scene. His pieces cover pricing, service, atmosphere, crowds and concept, and he is willing to be critical when gimmicks undermine the experience. He writes character-led pub profiles, works shifts, joins treasure hunts and attends major cultural events, inviting readers to follow what he does and use his straightforward assessments to decide where to eat, drink and spend time.
Alice Lorenzato-Lloyd
Alice Lorenzato-Lloyd is editor at Secret Manchester, where she treats food as part of how people live in the city, not as an isolated subject. She covers restaurants, bars, street food and casual dining, linking new openings and food trends to neighbourhood change, local businesses and everyday routines. Her pieces focus on accessible spots, comfort dishes like pizza and tacos, and clear details of menus, presentation, atmosphere and practical information such as opening hours and booking. She often combines food, drink and live events, producing guides to venues for major sports tournaments and themed pop-ups as part of wider things to do. Alice also reports on hospitality business pressures, city-centre public spaces, charity initiatives, transport and infrastructure, always showing how food and drink fit into community and lifestyle stories. She previously wrote for other regional “Secret” sites as a staff writer and describes herself as a writer and food fanatic.
Aly Walansky
Aly Walansky specializes in service-driven food coverage that treats cocktails and dining as tools for celebration, focusing on how logistics, ordering options, and menu choices turn everyday meals and major holidays into shared experiences. She is a longtime food and travel journalist now writing for Forbes, where her beat centers on cocktails and occasion-driven dining. Her work includes practical, expert-driven roundups such as guides to many variations on the classic martini, shipped-meals gift lists for Mother’s Day, and accessible formats for Thanksgiving and other holidays. She reports through structured lists, restaurant features, and menu-focused profiles that highlight signature dishes and dining trends. Across outlets, she extends this approach to home cooking, grocery shopping, and recipes, and runs a newsletter that shares her current assignments and industry commentary.
Ben Hurst
Ben Hurst joins food, entertainment and cost-of-living angles, treating cooking, groceries and celebrity stories as everyday decisions for readers. He is Head of Lifestyle and Money at WalesOnline, shaping practical, trending coverage that is tightly written, headline-led and easy to scan and share. His food reporting leans on TV chefs and supermarket behaviour, turning their advice and product changes into clear tips and consumer explainers focused on value for money and household budgets. He also writes extensively about TV and celebrity figures, using recognisable names to carry stories about health, family challenges, cancer treatment and resilience. Alongside these, he produces visual, nostalgia-driven galleries and concise explainers on wide-interest phenomena, drawing on a senior newsroom background that includes executive editor, video lead and news editor roles.