No rent deals for Chicago concessionaires

Print Article E-Mail Article

Concession revenues at Chicago's O'Hare and Midway airports are recovering and this has halted plans to offer controversial rent relief to retailers. According to the city's Aviation Department, during October, retail sales at Chicago O'Hare International were down roughly 15% from the same period a year ago. A 13% decline was reported at Midway airport.

This represents a marked improvement from the sharp 40% losses at Chicago airports that immediately followed September 11. Concession revenues for the month of September dropped by 32% at O'Hare (from $8.7m a year ago to $5.9m) and by 37.5% at Midway (from $2.4m to $1.8m).

The city administration recently shelved the idea of rent relief for its concessionaires. Speaking to the Chicago Sun newspaper, deputy aviation commissioner Eric Griggs said: "We think they'll be able to weather the storm. They've exceeded the point for concern."

Aviation department spokeswoman Monique Bond commented: "We established parameters that, if their gross revenues were to dip below 30%, we would consider rent relief options. But there is no justification for it at this time. Gross receipts are pretty much headed back to normal levels."

In order to cope with crowding and longer dwell times arising from new security measures, master concessionaire HMS Host has been granted approval to open temporary kiosks for drinks and snacks.