Airport Experience® News - Retail & Services Issue 2025

Watching Costs Closely While officials at WH Smith North America are monitoring costs, they haven’t had many issues, at least in the short term. Steel, for example, is in plentiful supply in the short-term, mitigating that cost for now, says Roddy McOwan, chief development officer. More pressing to date, he says, has been some supply chain issues on actual products. “What we need is to basically work with our airports and our clients from a planning and partnership perspective,” he says. “Gather as much information as we can but then we need the ability to work really quickly and change.”

Below, Right: Bambuza Hospitality Group will construct three new locations before the end of 2025. The small, growing company has seen kitchen equipment increase in cost significantly. Pictured are renderings of two concepts in the works: Vietnam Kitchen and Bar at SMF and Connections Gourmet Market at SEA.

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AX NEWS SEPTEMBER 2025