New Concessions at DIA

In a story yesterday about new and upgraded concessionaires at Denver International Airport, the Rocky Mountain News quoted Patrick Heck, DIA's acting deputy manager of revenue and business development, who said, "We want a much-more branded environment that reflects the best of Colorado. We want people to understand they're in Denver, not just any other airport."

Maybe I'm just dense, but "branded" and "reflecting the best of Colorado" usually are mutual exclusive. New and anticipated food concessions include Heidi's Brooklyn Deli, Einstein Bros. Bagels and Schlotzsky's. Heidi's and Einstein may be Colorado-based, but Scholtzsky's is from Texas. In any event, someone must think that DIA passengers and workers have an insatiable appetite for faux New York deli food. Maybe they do. More appropriately Colorado are the New Belgium Brewing Company, Caribou Coffee (from Minnesota but feels like Colorado), Dazbog Coffee and a Rock Bottom Restaurant & Brewery. Starbucks, of course, is Starbucks and reflects its home base of Seattle.

Despite my knee-jerk oh-no-not-more-chains reaction, I am encouraged that the airport is in the process if accepting proposals "for six different opportunities covering nearly 8,000 square feet of space." These will include a marketplace in the main terminal near the fountain where people have little to do while waiting for inbound passengers except stand behind the metal barrier and fidget.

"DIA recently tweaked its policies and procedures to make it easier for smaller businesses to compete. It started outreach programs targeting local businesses and set fixed lease rates that even the playing field for smaller companies," wrote Rocky reporter Chris Walsh. My wish dream is that this policy will work, and that something genuinely local that has not yet blossomed into franchise-dom will get one of the spaces. I keep thinking of Pour La France, whose old Aspen/Snowmass and Boulder locations were always better than those at DIA's terminal and Concourse B, where the baked goods always seemed rubbery and the sandwiches lame.

Concession revenues are not trivial. "Food and alcohol sales soared 20 percent in the first five months of 2007, while merchandise revenue rose nearly 17 percent, according to DIA figures. That far outpaces DIA's 4.2 percent rise in traffic this year," Walsh reported. The cynic in me might note that it's no surprise that concessionaires' revenues were up. Remember the weather last winter? Flight delays and cancellations were rampant in the early months of 2007 due to frequent snowstorms, which might not be the case next year. TNot only might weather patterns could be more favorable for air travel, but DIA is also investing millions in enhanced snow-removal equipment to minimize such problems.