Airport Experience® News - ACDBE Issue 2025

Right: Concord Collective operates a range of restaurants in Terminals 1, 3 and 6, as well as the Tom Bradley International Terminal at LAX. Among the company’s 14 current concepts are Beecher’s Handmade Cheese (TBIT), Qwench/Wetzel’s Pretzels (T1), Alfred Coffee (T3).

BIG IMPACT AT LAX Concord Collective Gained An LAX Foothold Amidst Covid. Now It’s Expanding.

BY SARAH BELING

his time working for CMS owner Clarence Daniels. “I was a part of a team tasked with transitioning the eateries in the airport that were mostly proprietary to globally and locally recognized brands. I started working on processes to help improve things and got a lot of latitude to be entrepreneurial and try new things and make a lot of mistakes. And so that’s what I did – I learned. I learned through trial and error. We got a chance to then, over time, develop new business and to really learn this business from all angles, all aspects, and from one of the premier operators, who I still consider a mentor and a friend today.” After 12 years with CMS, Plummer found himself at a crossroads as Daniels prepared to retire. When CMS sold the business to HMSHost, “it was a whirlwind,” says Plummer. “I took two weeks off and thought long and hard about what I wanted to do [next]. And I realized that I really wanted to be an entrepreneur.” Plummer founded his own hospitality company, Enjoy Repeat, in 2016, “and my original strategy was to focus on becoming a joint venture partner with a prime company,” he says. “At the time, a lot of the primes had their preferred partners at LAX. I was approached by a friend of mine from SSP America , who gave me an opportunity.” Enjoy Repeat became a part of a successful 2017 bid for spots in LAX’s Terminal 1, resulting in a swath of new food court restaurants including Chick-fil-A,

Concord Collective Partners and Enjoy Repeat founder Concord Collective Partners has always been drawn to the restaurant business. Growing up in Detroit, a 15-year-old Plummer’s first job was working at a local restaurant as “everything from a dishwasher to a busboy – you name it, and I did it,” says Plummer. “I loved the energy and the spirit of hospitality.” Plummer continued his work in restaurants while attending Morehouse College. While he planned to transition to a career in finance post-graduation, he soon felt the call of the hospitality industry beckoning him back. “I moved to California, I worked in finance for a year, but I felt myself missing the experience of working with people and the social element of [restaurants],” says Plummer. After a year at financial firm Morgan Stanley, Plummer made the jump to airport concessions, working as an assistant manager with Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) ACDBE concessionaire CMS Hospitality . “I instantly fell in love with the airport, with understanding how a small business worked and with the concessions the community at LAX, and that was 20 years ago today,” says Plummer. “It wasn’t all glamorous, [but] it was fascinating to interact with different people from around the world every day, and [learn to] problem solve. I found myself back where I belong working with people in hospitality.” “I got a chance to bounce around and do a little bit of everything,” adds Plummer of

Above: Gregory Plummer, CEO and managing partner of Concord Collective Partners, and CEO of Enjoy Repeat, has built a thriving business operating concessions at Los Angeles International Airport.

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AX NEWS JUNE 2025