Airport Experience® News - ACDBE & Small Business Issue 2024

Right: S&C Robinson Enterprise partnered with SSP America for the Five Borough Food Hall at Terminal 4 at John F. Kennedy International Airport

A MULTI-TASKING APPROACH Shane Robinson Found Success At Multiple Airports, While Managing A Separate Career As Well

Experiencing the breakneck pace of running large-scale retail was exciting, but exhausting. “I jumped on the treadmill on high,” Robinson says, “but I was ready to try a different experience.” Approached by a headhunter for Target in 2010, Robinson took a general manager position with his eye on grad school. While working for the retailer, he completed an MBA in business administration and management from Kennesaw State University. But before he had even graduated, another unexpected opportunity presented itself. In 2010, the team at SSP America was in Robinson’s home city of Atlanta, exploring the market. Robinson found himself at dinner with the SSP team, who asked him if he’d ever thought about going into concessions. “I said, ‘Well, no,’ and they said, ‘Well, what would be your dream job?’” adds Robinson. “I said, ‘If you gave me a bucket of cash, I would love to start my own restaurant group and get the experts to do the work, or, just open my own bar and restaurant’ – and that started the conversation.” In 2010, the team at SSP asked Robinson to partner with them on an RFP at Hartsfield Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL). The RFP didn’t work out, but in 2012, they reached out again about an opportunity at John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK)’s Terminal 4. Robinson partnered with SSP to launch Shake Shack and Dunkin’ Donuts as S&C Robinson Enterprise , all while still working for Target. Robinson left the retailer in 2016, and quickly began to expand his own company. He’s since partnered with SSP America on additional concepts at Sacramento International Airport (SMF) as well as concepts with HMSHost at Savannah/ Hilton Head International Airport (SAV), Charlotte/Douglas International Airport (CLT), San Diego International Airport (SAN), Long Island MacArthur Airport (ISP) and John Wayne Airport (SNA). It’s Robinson’s commitment to relationship building with his fellow

BY SARAH BELING

One could say that a deep knowledge of sales runs through Shane Robinson’s veins. Before he was the founder of Georgia-based concessions company S&C Robinson Enterprise , Robinson cut his teeth in the world of global mega-brands like AT&T , Home Depot , and Target . “I have quite a colorful resume from a corporate career standpoint,” says Robinson. “If you asked me 25 years ago if I’d be doing what I’m doing now, I probably would have looked at you oddly,” he laughs. “I just didn’t see this on the horizon.” After graduating from the University of Virginia with a degree in government affairs, Robinson was hired at AT&T, working in roles ranging from sales and maintenance to “irritating legislators” as a lobbyist, he says. “I pretty much ran the gambit with AT&T,” adds Robinson, “which is why, at some point, I got to the point of wanting to do something different, and I took a look at retail. The next thing you know, I’m running stores for Home Depot.” Robinson went on to manage multiple stores for the home improvement brand over his seven-year tenure, even opening a new store on the same day his first child was born. “I don’t do anything on ‘easy’,” he says.

Above: Shane Robinson, founder, S&C Robinson Enterprise.

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AX NEWS JULY/AUGUST 2024