AXiNsider by Airport Experience® News
AXiNsider is an interview-style podcast featuring in-depth discussions with the professionals, leaders and wave-makers working to steer the airport and concessions industries toward growth and innovation.
Episodes
Pauline Armbrust started Airport Retail News, an eight-page newsletter, in 1995 after hearing a soundbite about how much revenue airports in Europe were generating from their retail shops. American airports at the time were just discovering the potential in concessions, making it the perfect time to launch. As the industry evolved, so did ARN. Armbrust transitioned her newsletter into Airport Revenue News magazine in 2001 and start...
When the opportunity arose for Courtney Thornton to become in-house legal counsel for the board governing Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport, she didn’t even realize it had lawyers outside the city attorney’s office. That role exposed her to many opportunities in the industry. As Thornton began transitioning into a more customer-centered role, she’s had a front row seat as the industry became more technologically sou...
Liz Dwernychuk is responsible for ensuring an exceptional passenger experience for travelers at Edmonton International Airport (YEG). In recent years, YEG has evolved - in its concessions program and overall design - to a venue that is reflective of its region. It’s an airport willing to pilot new ideas and seek non-traditional solutions. And, from an Indigenous Interpretive and Retail Center featuring educational exhibits and auth...
As vice president of concessions at Orlando International Airport (MCO), Tracy Harris combines her skills in data analysis with her creativity and desire to help exceed passenger expectations. MCO’s evolution from a utilitarian concessions program into a passenger-focused venue offering a broad variety of brands and services culminated two years ago with the opening of Concourse C, which balances pre- and post-security concessions,...
Derryl Benton was a banker in central Florida when he met the late Bill Jennings, then director at Orlando International Airport, at a chamber event. Soon he was running the small business program and then concessions at the airport. Over his 30 years in the industry, Benton has seen concessions offerings industrywide changing from minimal, drab and dull to vibrant and customer-focused. Women and minorities have become more promine...
Retail in airports has changed significantly in recent years. Space that previously may have been set aside for a newsstand or a bookstore has grown into large retail marketplaces that give operators more flexibility on term. That, in turn, allows them much more flexibility on being able to follow trends and understand consumer preferences. It's part of an ongoing concessions wide change that aims to better meet the rising and more...
Nick Crews never planned to join the family business in airport concessions. But, while finishing law school, Crews was also working part-time at LAX overseeing his parents’ news and gift locations. He built relationships, gained an appreciation for his parents’ work and has never left. Crews Cos. has become a leading ACDBE operator nationally, with 35 locations across LAX, ATL and the Washington airports, with more on the way. Cre...
The Paradies family was just starting its airport business as Gregg Paradies was graduating from college. He went to work for Macy's in its buying office for a few years before returning to the family business. As airport retail evolved, Paradies became known for bringing brands like Brooks Brothers and Brighton on board. Now, in addition to getting into food and beverage, Paradies Lagardere is developing retail stores that could h...
Rick Piccolo, the longtime president and CEO of Sarasota Bradenton International Airport, has devoted his career to the aviation industry. Fresh out of high school, he started as a janitor at Buffalo Niagara International Airport (SRQ). He worked his way up through airfield maintenance into management before moving on to different jobs at airports in Florida. He gives credit for his ascension to several mentors who recognized his t...
Marketplace Development Co-Founders Paul McGinn and Bob Weinberg started the company upon learning the Port Authority of New York-New Jersey wanted a private developer for the Central Terminal Building at LaGuardia. Marketplace became one of the first companies to focus on private sector businesses and practices to the airport. The ability to hand off filling and operating concessions to a third party has, for many airports, allowe...
When Pat Murray joined the newly established SSP America in 2007, the company's smaller budget necessitated growth through local partnerships and proprietary brands rather than licenses. The company had a different feel and, as it gained space and credibility, it helped raise the bar on airport food programs.
Alan Gluck has worn about every type of hat the airport industry offers. He's worked for consultants, overseen the conversion of BWI's concessions program to the developer model, planned RFPs for new terminals and managed individual programs. Any model can work well, he says, if staffed, contracted and overseen properly to ensure revenue generation and profits are balanced with making sure the public is served.
From her time as an executive at McDonald's to her 18 years in the airport industry, Zenola Campbell has spent a career in hospitality. She's learned that if you focus on satisfying customer needs, everything else will fall in place. As Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport prepares to celebrate its 50th anniversary, the airport and its concessions program continue to evolve in that direction, finding new ways to reduce traveler ...
Paul Brown, senior director of brands and concepts at SSP America, has worked with large operators, directed a large concession program and a small airport. As a consultant, he helped small businesses and large brands get into airports. He believes focusing on the improving customer experience will, in general, lead to larger spends. But he also believes many underrepresented populations still need assistance in being able to compe...
Eric Johnson's dad was in aviation so he grew up going to Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. He remembers spinning hot dog racks and generic restaurants. As his career started at MSP, the airport brought aboard more creative thinkers. Working with consultants and operators interested in pushing boundaries, the airport became one of the first to start changing the industry. The result was a concessions program resembling a...
Andy Weddig entered airports from commercial real estate just as airport concessions programs were beginning to resemble the malls where he previously worked. He started out helping manage programs at airports like O’Hare International and Midway in Chicago. More recently, he’s expressed concern on the operator side as costs and rents have increased significantly in ways that make it harder for both side to get what they need.
Early in his career, Stu Holcombe convinced Jon Luther, then president of Delaware North Cos. subsidiary CA One Services, he could create a better portfolio of proprietary food and retail brands than existed at the time. That expanded to celebrity chef offerings and other advancements in airport food and retail. Later, he established his own company, LS Travel Retail, to help brands a pathway into airports. That segment is in trans...
When Candace McGraw arrived at CVG, Delta Air Lines was dehubbing the airport. She focused on attracting new carriers, which reduced airfares, and creating a great customer experience through local food, art and retail. The airport’s regional economic impact has more than doubled in the time since.
The ACDBE program has created many opportunities for small women- and minority-owned businesses to participate at airports. But Ron Gomes says it needs to evolve, including providing incentives to grow rather than immediately graduating companies that get too large. It’s incumbent on the industry to work toward that, especially as the program faces uncertainty from recent Supreme Court rulings that could impact its future.
After watching the movie Airplane, Oris Dunham worked for free at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport for 13 months to learn the industry. The multitude of tasks appealed to him, but concessions at the time were mundane and lacked variety. That has changed dramatically, with a focus on sense of place and tremendous design. Now, Dunham feels that airports may spend too much time creating on that sense of place at the expense of bui...
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