Airport Experience® News - ACDBE & Small Business Issue 2024

partner concessionaires, local chambers of commerce, airport management and financial institutions, that has kept S&C Robinson Enterprise fiscally successful. “We’ve had the same bank since we began, and we’ve been very intentional about making sure our debt structure is in line with what we’re doing,” says Robinson. In the first years of the company, “I didn’t take a dime, I just kept working until the investment at JFK paid off,” he adds. “The bank has been with us [through it all]. They’ve seen the good, they’ve seen the bad, and they’re awesome partners, particularly when the checks stopped coming in for 18 months.” Robinson’s innate sense of preparedness served him well even before the unexpected shutdown of the COVID-19 pandemic. Wanting to supplement his career, he took a client solutions role with AT&T, to complement his work with S&C Robinson Enterprise. “In light of what happened on March 14, 2020, it’s probably the smartest

AT A GLANCE NAME OF COMPANY: S&C Robinson Enterprise HEADQUARTERS: Atlanta, Georgia FOUNDER(S): Shane Robinson, Earl Graves Jr. YEAR OF ENTRY INTO AIRPORTS: 2012 NUMBER OF AIRPORT LOCATIONS: 25 AIRPORTS: JFK, SMF, CLT, SAV, SAN, SNA, ISP

CONCEPTS OPERATED IN AIRPORTS: Starbucks, Five Borough Food Hall, Uptown Brasserie, Ciao Gourmet Market, Ducks Breakaway Bar & Grill, California Pizza Kitchen, Hobie Sand Bar, Auntie Anne’s, The Great American Bagel and Panini, Iron Horse Tavern, PGA Grill, BluePoint Brewing Company FUTURE PLANS: S&C Enterprise hopes to expand with additional retail offerings as well as airport restaurants, and to expand its footprint to more North American airports.

thing I could have done,” he says. Working “double duty” allowed him to wait out the concessions shutdown. Robinson says he is now exploring airport retail concept opportunities in the travel essentials category, and potentially duty free as well. The company is also exploring the possibility of purchasing a restaurant franchise to own and operate. “I think this would resonate more with some of our prospective airports, as there seems to be some movement towards

independent ACDBEs pursuing their own opportunities for space in airports,” he says. For now, Robinson still lives a life doing “double duty” – managing S&C Robinson Enterprise while maintaining his position at AT&T. His oldest child, born on the day of his Home Depot store opening, is off to college in the fall. And he still loves retail. “I love the ‘people business,’” he says. “People, product, and process.”

Below: Iron Horse Tavern, at Sacramento International Airport, represents another partnership between S&C Robinson Enterprise and SSP America.

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AX NEWS JULY/AUGUST 2024