Airport Experience® News - ACDBE Issue 2025

AT A GLANCE NAME OF COMPANY: PLENTY Mercantile HEADQUARTERS: Oklahoma City, OK

The PLENTY Model PLENTY Mercantile isn’t just a gift and lifestyle goods store. A Certified B Corporation, PLENTY’s shelves feature an array of locally and regionally-made products from vendors with a “triple bottom line” philosophy, focusing on people, profit and planet. “PLENTY exists to instill confidence that your dollars are directly supporting people making wise choices in the fabrication or impact of their material goods,” the store’s website says. “We have self imposed purchasing principles which funnel every dollar spent at our store towards good; however, we also approach our process with the understanding that there is no perfectly sustainable product.” The airport location had to diverge a bit. Matlock says the airport store, by necessity, sells travel essentials as well, some of which don’t meet the stringent guidelines PLENTY self-imposes at its street locations. “All of our products streetside have either an environmentally friendly or socially responsible component,” she says. “However, that can’t necessarily be true at an airport store. It just can’t happen right now” given scarcity of travel essentials items that meet the criteria. Below: PLENTY Mercantile at OKC is a blend of lifestyle goods and gifts – including many local and sustainable brands – and the travel essentials that are crucial offerings in airports. Below Right: Local brands are the backbone of PLENTY. Local producers and products are spotlighted within the stores.

OWNER(S): Traci Walton and Brittney Matlock YEAR FIRST AIRPORT LOCATION OPENED: 2023 NUMBER OF AIRPORT LOCATIONS: 1 AIRPORTS: Will Rogers International Airport (OKC) CONCEPTS OPERATED: One under PLENTY, but Walton and Matlock partner with Paradies Lagardère in operating all retail at OKC FUTURE PLANS: Walton and Matlock are gaining knowledge and experience at OKC, with the hope of expanding to other airports in the near future.

Nevertheless, the product selection at PLENTY at the airport keeps the company’s guiding principles in mind, with local offerings and even a zero-waste sustainable section. The social and environmental responsibility component is one thing that attracted the Paradies Lagardère team to the brand. “We’re extremely proud to partner with PLENTY Mercantile because their mission and values deeply align with our own,” says Gregg Paradies, president and CEO of Paradies Lagardère. “Traci and Brittney have created an inspiring movement centered around purpose-driven commerce, where every product tells a story and every decision reflects care for their local community and the planet at large. Their commitment to sustainability, local sourcing, and thoughtful design resonates with our dedication to trust, respect, and responsible partnership.” Aside from the challenges to the PLENTY business model brought by the need to offer travel essentials in the airport store, Matlock says operating in the airport environment has added a level of complexity. When they find a new product or vendor for their street locations, Matlock and Walton simply “buy the new product, we put it in the system, we put it on the shelves and we sell it,” Matlock says. The airport process is more complicated with various hurdles to overcome, and it takes much longer. “There are reasons why [each decision] has to go through multiple people, but we are just not used to that because it’s just been the two of

us.” The education has been beneficial, she adds. “We’ve figured everything out ourselves over 13 years and we’ve strived for excellence the whole time. Now being able to see inside the workings of a global company is super cool. We have learned so much and been so encouraged the whole time.” The airport store has added a new level of credibility to the overall PLENTY operation, with travelers seeking out the downtown stores after getting a taste for the brand in the airport. The two streetside locations are in historic locations “and now being in the airport is another landmark,” Matlock says. “It’s been really cool to be at three very iconic places in Oklahoma City and to help do what we said we were going to do as a city, which is to become the modern frontier.” Looking Ahead Walton says the ACDBE program was crucial is their effort to gain a foothold in the airport. “We understand that it is highly unlikely that a little store like ours would have the opportunity to be at a major international airport without the ACDBE program,” she says. “We also know that the mayor and the city council were very firm in pushing the local [component] and we wanted to represent Oklahoma City and the state of Oklahoma. It definitely levels up our business. Passion for their home state and home airport notwithstanding, Walton and Matlock are eager to expand. “We would love to be in more airports,” Walton says. And the two believe that the unique approach they bring would be beneficial in other airports, regardless of the ACDBE certification. “We hope that we provide incredible value based on our years and years of trial and error being behind the register,” says Matlock. “We are professional shoppers both inside and outside. We hope that that experience and that value stands out.”

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AX NEWS JUNE 2025

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