Denver International airport plans changes to attract high-end retailers

Nicole Mezzasalma

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Brand stores and local business are targets

Denver International airport plans to change its concession programme in order to attract high-end brands and local businesses to its retail spaces. The airport, which doesn’t have a master contract, is hoping to create tailored proposals for individual locations or packages of locations and then select the ones that meet its needs.

Brands are important because they provide travellers with consistent service and products, while local retailers can help to make Denver stand out from other airports, according to Denver International acting deputy manager of revenue and business development Patrick Heck.

He told Aviation Week magazine: “We will also be looking for more retail concepts that have proven records to generate sales, whether at an airport or on a street location. Many of the retail purchases are impulse, so you need to get products in that will draw people into the store.”

The new contracts are expected to run between five and seven years, depending on locations. Kiosks will work under shorter, two-year concessions.

Denver International’s concessions programme is reported to have generated $211m in gross sales, resulting in $36m in rents to the airport. Heck said: “The contracts for the new spaces will go into effect over the course of several years as old spaces have agreements that expire and new spaces are added to the programme. The bulk of the space comes out in 2011-12, with another spike in 2014. There will be a few new stores in place by early next year, but [the contracts] will centre around the expiration of the old agreements."

The airport services 50m passengers every year. The Nuance Group operates the duty-free retail at Denver International airport.