Important Things to Know About the Airport Retail Industry

Propelle Konnect
3 min readSep 2, 2022

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This blog provides you with a quick summary of the airport dining and retail scene. It is for companies trying to grow in airports or for brands looking to enter these exciting retail spaces.

Here are four essential things to remember. However, along with these essential elements, you will also require travel retail marketing to flourish your business in the airport. You can connect with Propelle Konnect, a Nationwide Staffing Agency for multiple services such as travel marketing, brand ambassadors, and many more.

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Airport Leases Are for Bids

The leases for airport retail shops are put out to bid approximately every ten years through a formal Request for Proposal (RFP) procedure, in contrast to leasing space in a shopping mall, strip center, or local main street.

Yes, it can be challenging.

Each terminal, or even wing of each terminal, is leased separately on a separate bid for major, multi-terminal airports. As a result, several airports always have a section of their shop space vacant yearly.

Involvement of Large Corporations

You will learn that it is not as straightforward as you first assumed that the government is your only contact. Large and international (i.e., non-U.S.) businesses like Areas (Spain), Autogrill (Italy), Dufry (Switzerland), Duty-Free Shops or DFS (France), and Dufry, to mention a few, also play a role in the process for obtaining retail space in U.S. airports.

These businesses referred to as master concessionaires frequently prevail in bidding for entire terminals because they have the resources to modernize and renovate retail areas. Then, these larger firms sublease portions of it to smaller neighborhood companies and DBEs or join forces with them. By doing this, local businesses are paired with these vast, sophisticated enterprises, which have significant operating advantages owing to their size and enable airport management to deal with fewer vendors directly.

Airports Are Run by Government

The municipal, state and federal governments work together to plan and run airports and provide the majority of the funding for them. Privately owned and operated airports are extremely rare in the United States. However, airports are typically owned and run by private businesses or a mix of public and private funding and management.

The government runs the airports, and a lot of information concerning airport retail, including passenger traffic, sales, rentals, when leases are due, etc., is available to the general public according to the idea of “freedom of information.” However, some crucial information is still difficult to obtain; for additional information, get in touch with us here.

Advantages of Women and Minority-Owned Businesses

The term “disadvantaged business enterprise” (DBE) is used by the government to describe either minority-owned or women-owned companies that haven’t yet become very big. Airports typically have to allocate a portion of their space to eligible and certified DBEs to receive financial assistance from the federal government.

Do you fall in any of these types? If yes, in that case, you might want to consider getting your business officially certified in your state because it’s a significant element that can offer you a real edge. Also, if you need to run any event or looking for brand ambassadors, contact Propelle Konnect, a Nationwide Staffing Agency.

Conclusion

If you work in business development for a company that sells food, drinks, or consumer goods and are not already considering airports and other travel-related venues as potential locations for branding and expansion. In that case, it’s time for you to consider it along with the travel retail marketing for your business.

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Propelle Konnect
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Propelle Konnect works with global luxury brands along with product-based companies to launch & promote their brands. Visit: https://bit.ly/3ACks2P