Privacy Policy

1.Who we are and what this policy covers

Vela Park Food Works (“Vela Park,” “we,” “us,” or “our”) is a food hall, bar, and park in the East Lake neighborhood, 1881 2nd Ave, Decatur, GA 30032. Vela Park is part of the Gansevoort Companies family of food halls, which also includes Chattahoochee Food Works and CTR Food Works. This website is operated by Vela Park together with the affiliated companies that own, manage, and operate the venue, including Baconboy Hospitality LLC.

This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, share, and protect personal information when you visit velaparkfoodworks.com (the “Site”), send us a message, join our email list, or start a private-event inquiry through the Site. It also covers the staff dashboard our team uses to run the Site.

It does not cover what happens inside the hall or in the park. The independently owned kitchens in the hall run their own point-of-sale and ordering systems, and their privacy practices apply to anything you share with them.

2.Information we collect

We collect what we need to run the Site and to respond to you.

Information you give us

• Messages. When you use the contact form on the Connect page, we collect your first and last name, your email address, your phone number (optional), the type of inquiry you choose (General, Private Events, Vendor Opportunities, Press, Partnerships, or Careers), and your message. If you reply by email to one of our responses, we keep your reply together with the original message so our team can follow the whole conversation.
• Email list. When you join our email list through the footer of any page, the welcome pop-up, or the sign-up section on the Connect page, we collect your email address and note which form you used.
• Event inquiries. The private-event inquiry form on the Private Events page is provided by Tripleseat, the event-management software we use. You enter details such as your name, contact information, event type, date, and guest count, and the form sends them to our Tripleseat account.

Please do not send payment card numbers, government ID numbers, passwords, or detailed health information through the Site. If you write to us about a job, we use what you send to consider you for roles. If you have a food allergy or dietary need, share only what is necessary to help us plan, and tell the kitchen directly when you order.

Information collected automatically

• Technical data. Like most websites, our servers and our hosting provider receive your IP address, browser and device type, the pages you request, the date and time, and the page that referred you. We use this to deliver pages, keep the Site secure, and diagnose problems.
• Analytics. We may use Google Analytics to measure how the Site is used. If we switch it on, what it may store on your device and send to Google depends on the choice you make in our cookie banner. Details are in Cookies, analytics, and similar technologies.
• Abuse prevention. To stop spam and automated attacks, we limit how often forms and sign-in pages can be used. For that we use your IP address after scrambling it with a secret value (a hash), so the stored counter does not reveal it. The counters expire automatically after a short time, from minutes to about an hour.
• Browser storage. The Site saves two small items in your browser’s local storage: your choice in the cookie banner, and whether you have already closed the welcome pop-up. They stay on your device and are not used to track you.
• Embedded content. The Visit page shows a Google map, and the event inquiry form loads software from Tripleseat and Google reCAPTCHA, a spam-protection tool. When these load, those companies receive your IP address and browser details and may set their own cookies. Their handling of that data is governed by their own policies, linked below.

Staff dashboard accounts

If you are a member of our team or a contractor we have invited to the Site’s dashboard, we keep your name, work email address, role, a hashed (not readable) password, an optional profile photo, and the records needed to keep your account secure, such as password-reset requests. A sign-in cookie keeps you signed in and expires after one hour. These accounts are not open to the public.

Information from other sources

Our service providers send us the information you submit through them (for example, Tripleseat passes along your event inquiry), and a planner, assistant, or colleague may contact us on your behalf. If we switch Google Analytics on, Google also gives us reports about how people use the Site, which we use in aggregate.

3.Cookies, analytics, and similar technologies

The Site does not use advertising cookies or social-media tracking pixels, and its tags are not used to run advertising campaigns. We may use Google Analytics 4 to understand how the Site is used, such as which pages are visited and from what general area. If we switch it on, Google’s tag loads on the public pages of the Site and works as described here.

Your choice

When you first visit, a banner asks you to choose “Necessary only” or “Accept all.” Analytics storage starts switched off and stays off unless you choose “Accept all.”

• If you choose “Accept all,” Google Analytics may set cookies and use identifiers on your device to recognize your browser across visits and measure how the Site is used.
• If you choose “Necessary only,” or have not chosen yet, the Google tag is told not to set analytics or advertising cookies or to use identifiers for advertising. The tag still loads, so Google receives the limited signals that any web request carries, such as the page address, your browser details, and your IP address, along with your choice. Google says it uses these cookie-free signals to model overall traffic.

Whichever you choose, the Site works the same, and your choice has no effect on how we respond to you.

Changing your choice

To change your choice later, clear this site’s data (cookies and local storage) in your browser settings. The banner comes back the next time you load a page. You can also email gm@velaparkfoodworks.com and we will help. To opt out of Google Analytics on all sites, Google offers a browser add-on. You can also read how Google uses information from sites that use its services.

Other cookies and storage

Apart from Google Analytics, if we switch it on, the only storage the Site sets is the browser storage described above and, for signed-in staff, the sign-in cookie. Google Maps and the event inquiry form (Tripleseat and reCAPTCHA) may set cookies of their own when you load or use them. You can block or delete cookies and local storage in your browser settings; the Site will still work, but embedded features such as the event inquiry form may not.

If we add advertising or retargeting tools in the future, we will update this policy first and, where the law requires, ask for your consent before using them.

Do Not Track and Global Privacy Control

The Site does not currently read Do Not Track or Global Privacy Control signals from your browser. Because analytics storage starts switched off, you can keep it off by choosing “Necessary only.” If you would like help, email gm@velaparkfoodworks.com.

4.How we use information

We use personal information to:

• respond to your messages and to press, partnership, vendor, careers, and event inquiries;
• plan, quote, and manage private events and vendor discussions;
• send the email updates you asked to receive, which you can stop at any time;
• operate, maintain, and secure the Site, including preventing spam, fraud, and abuse;
• improve the Site and our programming, for example by learning which questions people ask us and, if analytics is on, which pages they use;
• administer staff accounts; and
• comply with the law, respond to lawful requests, and protect our guests, our team, and our rights.

We do not use personal information to make automated decisions that have legal or similarly significant effects on you, and we do not build marketing profiles from it.

5.How we share information

We do not sell your personal information, and we do not share it with anyone for their own marketing or for cross-context behavioral advertising, as those terms are used in California and other state privacy laws. We share personal information only in these ways.

Service providers

These companies handle personal information on our behalf to provide their services. Google and Tripleseat also describe their own practices in the policies linked here.

• Vercel. Hosts the Site and stores uploaded images, such as event artwork and staff profile photos. Privacy policy
• Neon. Hosts the database that stores contact messages, email-list sign-ups, event listings, and staff accounts. Privacy policy
• Resend. Sends and receives the emails our forms and dashboard produce, including routing your message to the right team and relaying replies. Privacy policy
• Tripleseat. Provides the private-event inquiry form and the event-management software we use to respond. Privacy policy
• Google. Provides the map on the Visit page, reCAPTCHA spam protection on the event inquiry form, and, if we switch it on, Google Analytics. Privacy policy

Affiliates

We may share information with other food halls and hospitality businesses under common ownership with us, including those in the Gansevoort Companies portfolio. For example, our event inquiry form is shared across several halls, so an inquiry may be reviewed by an events team that serves more than one venue.

Legal, safety, and business reasons

We may disclose information to comply with a law, subpoena, or court order; to protect the rights, property, or safety of our guests, our team, or the public; to investigate fraud or security issues; or in connection with a merger, sale, financing, or transfer of some or all of our business, in which case the information may transfer to the new owner.

With your direction

We share information when you ask us to, for example if you ask us to introduce you to a kitchen or a partner.

De-identified information

We may use or share information that cannot reasonably be used to identify you.

6.How long we keep information

We keep personal information only as long as we need it for the purposes above, and then delete or de-identify it. In practice:

• email-list addresses are kept until you unsubscribe or ask us to delete them;
• messages and event inquiries are kept for as long as needed to answer you and manage the related event or request, and afterward for our business, tax, and legal records;
• technical logs and abuse-prevention counters are short-lived and are managed by our providers;
• if we switch Google Analytics on, the data Google holds is kept under Google’s own retention settings and policies; and
• deactivated staff accounts are permanently deleted after a short retention period (currently 90 days).

7.How we protect information

We use safeguards that are reasonable for a site of this size, including encrypted connections (HTTPS), hashed staff passwords, role-based access limited to authorized team members, limits on repeated sign-in and form attempts, spam controls, and one-hour staff sessions.

No website or email system is completely secure, so we cannot guarantee absolute security. If a security incident affects your personal information, we will notify you and the authorities as the law requires.

8.Your choices and rights

• Cookies and analytics. Choose “Necessary only” in the cookie banner, or change an earlier choice, as described in Cookies, analytics, and similar technologies.
• Email. Every marketing email has an unsubscribe link, and you can also email us to opt out. We will stop promptly, and in any event within 10 business days. We may still send messages about a request you made.
• Access, correction, and deletion. You can ask us what personal information we hold about you, ask for a copy, ask us to correct it, or ask us to delete it. Email gm@velaparkfoodworks.com with “Privacy request” in the subject line, send a message through our contact page (choose General and say it is a privacy request), or write to the address below, and give us enough detail to find your records. We will ask you to confirm that you control the email address you used. We aim to respond within 45 days, and if we need more time we will tell you why.

We will not treat you differently for exercising any of these choices.

9.Additional information for residents of certain states

Depending on where you live, state privacy laws may give you rights over your personal information, including the right to know and access it, correct it, delete it, receive a portable copy, opt out of sale, targeted advertising, and certain profiling, and appeal if we refuse a request. We do not sell personal information or share it for cross-context behavioral advertising, and we do not use it for targeted advertising or for profiling that has legal or similarly significant effects, so there is nothing to opt out of. We extend the other choices described in Your choices and rights to all visitors, wherever you live.

To make a request, use the methods in that section. You may also use an authorized agent; we may ask for proof of the agent’s authority and may need to verify your identity. If we decline a request, you may appeal by replying to our decision with “Appeal” in the subject line, and if you are not satisfied with the outcome you may contact your state attorney general.

We do not knowingly collect sensitive personal information as those laws define it, apart from anything you choose to include in a message.

California

To the extent California law applies to us, these are the categories of personal information we have collected in the past 12 months. We disclosed them to the service providers described above for the business purposes described in this policy. We have not sold or shared any personal information in that period.

• Identifiers. Examples: Name, email address, phone number (optional), IP address. Source: You and your browser. Used for: Responding to you, security, running the Site.
• Customer records (California Civil Code § 1798.80(e)). Examples: Contact details and the content of your messages and inquiries. Source: You. Used for: Responding to you, planning events and vendor discussions.
• Internet or similar network activity. Examples: Browser and device type, pages requested, referring page, request timing and, if analytics is switched on and you chose “Accept all,” how you use the Site. Source: Your browser, our servers, and Google (if analytics is on). Used for: Delivering and securing the Site, understanding how it is used.
• Professional information and photos (staff only). Examples: Name, work email, role, profile photo. Source: Staff members. Used for: Administering dashboard accounts.

California residents may also ask once a year for details about personal information we disclosed to third parties for their direct-marketing purposes. We make no such disclosures. Nevada residents may ask us not to sell their covered information; we do not sell it.

10.Children’s privacy

The Site is meant for a general audience and is not directed to children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe a child has sent us personal information, contact us and we will delete it.

11.Links to other sites and services

The Site links to other websites and services, including the kitchens’ own websites, social platforms such as Instagram and Facebook, Google Maps, and Tripleseat. We do not control them and are not responsible for their privacy practices, so please read their policies before sharing information with them.

12.Visitors from outside the United States

We operate in, and store information in, the United States. If you use the Site from another country, your information will be transferred to and processed in the United States, where privacy laws may differ from those where you live.

13.Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. The “Last updated” date at the top shows the current version. If we make a material change, we will take reasonable steps to let you know, such as posting a notice on the Site. Using the Site after an update means you accept the updated policy.

14.Contact us

Questions, requests, or concerns about this policy or your personal information? Email gm@velaparkfoodworks.com with “Privacy” in the subject line, send a message through our contact page (choose General), call 470.200.7757, or write to us at:

Vela Park Food Works
Attn: Privacy
1881 2nd Ave
Decatur, GA 30032