Hospitality consulting at the intersection of brand, design, and operations.
About
AB\Consultancy (AB\C) provides clients with full-service hospitality consulting services — from brand and design strategy to concept development and operational consulting.
Founded by Austin Buben, a long-standing hospitality expert, AB/C seeks to provide clients with solutions and opportunities rooted in both strategy and creativity. Select clients and experience include the following lists. For a full sampling of work, please send us a note here.
\ Disney
\ Related
\ Jean-Georges
\ iss Guckenheimer
\ AvroKO Hospitality Group
\ Merchants Hospitality
\ The Dead Rabbit
\ Bluestone Lane
\ Coca-Cola
\ Pernod Ricard
\ Casa Barilla
\ Marriott International
\ Hilton
\ Hyatt
\ IHG
\ Four Seasons
\ Ace Hotel & Atelier Ace
\ GrandLife Hotels
\ Eagle Point
\ Ovolo Hotels
\ Accor
\ Virgin Voyages
Austin Buben is the Founder and Owner of AB\C. He started his career on the culinary side at a young age and has worked in everything from fast-casual establishments to fine dining restaurants, such as Cyrus in Healdsburg, California and Blue Hill at Stone Barns in New York. He then made the move to front-of-house management with Ace Hotel, Jean-Georges Management, and The Hoxton.
Moving out of the operations side of the industry, Austin joined AvroKO / Brand Bureau and held a number of roles across the company all rooted in strategy and development, with a specific focus on operations. Prior to returning to AvroKO once again, he was on the Global Brand F&B Team at Hilton Worldwide, dedicated to the F&B Strategy and Development of the enterprise's Lifestyle Category. He has also worked as a strategist for both Crown Creative and Streetsense.
Austin is a graduate of Cornell University’s School of Hotel Administration, where he studied both hotel and food and beverage management, as well as real estate development. While at Cornell, he also completed extensive coursework in Viticulture and Enology through the University’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, with an emphasis on natural and sustainable wine-making practices. Austin has also completed several graduate courses in interior design and fine art at Parsons in New York City.
Services
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Have an idea for a brand? Or already have a brand, but want to give it an overhaul? Our Brand & Strategy services bring brands to life through strategy, including design strategy for both visual identity and interior design.
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From fast-casual models to fine-dining establishments, our concept development services identify a whitespace within the market and crafts concepts that are rooted in well-informed strategy, creative touch-points, and one-of-a-kind narratives.
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Whether your establishment is just getting started or it’s been active for a while, our operations consulting service will audit your operating model and look for efficiencies and solutions that will drive revenues and increase sales conversions.
Our services encompass a soup-to-nuts approach, blending strategic thinking, research-driven insights, and operational know-how alongside a creative knack. We start projects by defining a strategic positioning to enter the market and developing a concept that fits within the defined white space. From there, the big idea comes to life through an operating model that will sustain its success and better the top and bottom lines.
Discover the magic of creativity when what works meets what looks and feels good.
Welcome to a new method of hospitality consulting — one in which brand and design strategy meets seamless and optimized operations, all in a way that renders sustained success and differentiation for years to come.
OUR PROCESS:
1.
Research & Synthesize
2.
Identify The Opportunity
3.
Strategize
4.
Ideate
5.
Develop
6.
Build
7.
Launch
8.
Sustain
Image Credit:
Austin Proper by Kelly Wearstler, Austin Texas, USA
Photograph by The Ingalls
Let's work together.
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Let's work together. —
Send us a note to schedule a free consultation. We’d love the opportunity to see how might be able to work together to bring your brand or entity to life, or to reposition what you already have working.
