US. Chicago concession planning company Unison Maximus is drawing up a US$26.5 million plan to renovate the main retail area at Memphis International airport.
The Memphis-Shelby County Airport Authority awarded a US$655,000 contract to Unison Maximus to draw up the final design and construction documents and prepare the project for bidding. Construction will start in January.
The project, expected to be completed in 2005, will create a “sense of place and image”, said Andy Weddig, vice president of Unison Maximus speaking to local reporters.
“We want to set it apart from other airports, make it attractive to passengers so we can draw them to stores and have them, well, frankly, spend more money,” he said.
The city “definitely has character and definitely has a unique history. The river creates a heritage for the city, but it also helped create a melting pot of sorts.”
The two parts of the airport’s B Concourse – where they meet in a Y shape – will be the centre of a new retail area with the sights and sounds of Memphis and a US$7 million atrium above. In the plan, ten additional retail locations will be added, to make a total of 45. A Starbucks, Books and Blues and a general news & gift shop in the area will be removed. The nearby Northwest Airlines World Club may also be moved to expand concession space further.
The current programme, run by HMSHost since 1992, is under-performing and does not give travellers a sense of being in a world-class city, according to Richard White, director of properties for the airport authority.
“Think what the potential would be if all the cylinders were working together,” said White in an interview with The Commercial Appeal.
HMSHost’s master concession contract at the airport expired in 2002, but under an authority agreement it could serve until April 2005. The airport authority has also approved a resolution to pay HMSHost just over US$3 million to compensate it for the depreciated value of leasehold improvements.
Bids for concession spaces will go out in July and the airport says it already has interest from international operators that would like to have access to the airport’s 10 million annual passengers.
“The four bidders that can provide the best quality and service will get the contracts for all food & beverage and merchandise sold at the airport”, White said.
Currently with an average concession fee of 12% of sales, the airport earns US$24 million from concession sales. The airport authority says it could earn +25% more, when the new retail environment opens in 2005.
