USA. RumFish Grill, Time Zone/Shades and Starbucks officially opened today at Tampa International Airport, as part of the airport’s concessions redevelopment programme.
“In a sense these three locations reflect major goals of the entire programme. We’ve got local flavour with RumFish Grill, the familiar and always popular Starbucks, and Time Zone/Shades, a high-quality retail store,” said Tampa International Airport CEO Joe Lopano. “These are wonderful dining, coffee and shopping options for our Southwest and Frontier Airlines passengers, and they’ve already been enjoying great sales in the short time they’ve been open.”
RumFish Grill, a casual dining restaurant featuring a 6ft aquarium filled with native Florida fish, was opened by TPA Hospitality Partners. Well-known in St. Pete Beach, the restaurant offers innovative and creative seafood dishes. The installation of the tank, which will be maintained by the St. Petersburg-based marine research organisation Secrets of the Sea, was undertaken by Acrylic Tank Manufacturers of the Animal Planet show Tanked, which will air at a later date.
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The three new concessions are among approximately 30 expected to open this year at TPA |
Delaware North Travel Hospitality (a majority partner of TPA Hospitality Partners) President Kevin Kelly said: “RumFish Grill is a first for air travellers providing mesmerising aquarium entertainment while they enjoy a great meal. Our focus is to provide ‘extreme hospitality,’ high quality and unique dining experiences at Tampa International Airport.”
Time Zone/Shades, opened by NewsLink of Tampa, offers popular sunglass brands such as Ray Ban, Maui Jim and Costa, as well as watches including Lacoste, Fossil, Diesel, Citizen and Swarovski.
NewsLink Group President and CEO Raymond J. Kayal commented: “We are very excited to be opening the first of our nine locations at Tampa International Airport. Time Zone/Shades will make a wonderful addition to the retail offering in Airside C. This is an incredible market for these concepts and we are excited to bring Time Zone/ Shades to such an innovative airport as Tampa International.”
Managed by HMSHost, the new Starbucks features a one-of-a-kind coffee-bean-shaped design. The retailer is also opening several more Starbucks locations throughout the airport, including Starbucks Reserve and Starbucks Evenings.
“HMSHost is very excited to be celebrating the grand opening of Starbucks on Airside C in Tampa International Airport, as well as for the upcoming openings of exciting concepts such as P.F. Chang’s and Starbucks Evenings that will soon be available for Tampa travellers,” said HMSHost Vice President of Business Development Michael Price. “We value our partnership with the airport and look forward to continuing to work together on delivering great food & beverage options and service to the traveling public.”
The three concessions are among approximately 30 expected to open this year at TPA, coinciding with the airport’s historic expansion of its Main Terminal, a new rental car facility and a 1.4-mile automated people mover.
The new concessions redevelopment options include a wider variety of choices and more local brands. Roughly 40% of the food & beverage options are local, featuring staples such as Columbia, Cigar City, Ducky’s, Buddy Brew and the Café by Mise en Place.
Participation in the Airport Concessions Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (ACDBE) also increased from three companies to 15, bringing more woman- and minority-owned business to TPA.
