Airport Experience® News - 20 Years of the AX Conference

national brands, especially on the food beverage side,” says Pat Banducci, chief commercial officer for SSP America . Local brands were just starting to find their footing in the airport space. In subsequent years, local brands would continue to expand in airports, in some cases nearly eclipsing the national brands that had come before them. When Liz Grzechowiak first entered in the industry in 2013, working in the concessions department at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport , the move toward local brands and creating a sense of place was in full swing. “Everybody was chitter chattering about wanting to make their program local, bring that [sense of place] to fruition,” she says. “Then in the subsequent years, we saw a lot of those contracts coming to life, bringing the sense of place.” After perhaps too big a swing toward local, a balance has emerged, Grzechowiak adds, noting an increased awareness of “the need to respect what national brands accomplish in the airport space.” But Grzechowiak, who now is senior director, brands and concept development for Delaware North , says the local element remains crucial. “I think airports definitely want sense of place,” she adds. “You should be able to fly into an environment and get the vibe of the city that you’re visiting, and airports should have that opportunity to leverage that exposure to entice people to come back and visit.”

Left: Pat Banducci, chief commercial officer for SSP America, has seen street pricing policies evolve over the past 20 years. He also notes the recent moderation of airport expectations on rent and minimum annual guarantees.

Banducci also notes the newly achieved balance. “I think it’s settled in to something where it’s still this desire for a sense of place, so local brand [coupled with some] popular national brands for a few categories,” he says. But adding to the equation is a host of proprietary brands from operators – not necessarily a new phenomenon, but one that is gaining favor again. Banducci notes an “acceptance, where it makes sense in the airport environment, for boutique proprietary brands where operators can become creative and design concepts really fit well in the airport environment. “Bars are probably the best example,” he says. “Some of them, maybe most of them, wouldn’t work on the street but they’re perfect for the airport environment, where you’ve got some travelers looking for comfortable space and others in a hurry.” Another relatively recent success story for airports is the involvement of celebrity or well-known chefs in airport restaurants, and a general elevation of the dining offer.

Above: One change over the past two decades has been an elevation of the F&B offerings in airports, with chefs offering unique dining experiences and celebrity chefs eager to operate in airports, says Delaware North’s Liz Grzechowiak. Below: Hudson’s Evolve concept requires a relatively large footprint but allows the retailer to feature several specialty retail brands in a single store that also sells travel essentials.

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AX NEWS JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2024