New shops, restaurants, lingerie and luggage landing at Minneapolis-St. Paul …
August 18, 2015 by admin
Filed under Latest Lingerie News
The Metropolitan Airports Commission is shaking up the retail mix the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. Meeting Monday afternoon, the commission is going through a list of more than 50 new restaurant and retail concepts, mostly at the heavily trafficked Terminal 1 (Lindbergh).
Among the major changes coming to the airport is the replacement of Chili’s by Stone Arch, a restaurant/craft brewery combo run by Twin Cities restaurant owner Ryan Burnet and the Minnesota Craft Brewers Guild. The commission has also approved the addition of Flirt, a St. Paul lingerie and intimates boutique, and Tumi luggage. Johnston Murphy will expand to include female clothing.
In a request-for-proposals published in March, the MAC said it wanted to “enhance participation” of local businesses and feature more ethnic foods, a broader spectrum of price points, high-impact national brands, and duty-free shopping opportunities. The MAC also wants to bolster national trends toward craft beer and cocktails, distinctive merchandise and blended food and entertainment venues.
All told, companies submitted 54 proposals for concession space totaling 72,000 square feet. Space was parsed out in 14 “batches” that group together multiple locations throughout the airport, some high-performing, others not. The batches represent a significant amount of the 169,000 square feet of retail space at MSP.
But at a nearly five-hour MAC Management and Operations Committee meeting earlier this month, deliberations grew testy as some of the Twin Cities’ biggest names in the retail and restaurant field were not recommended by MAC staff. They included a sports bar pitched by the Minnesota Twins, a music venue with the Cedar Cultural Center and a restaurant by Minneapolis-based chef entrepreneur Kim Bartmann, owner of Barbette, Tiny Diner and Pat’s Tap, among others.
The full MAC commission can overturn staff recommendations as well as those of the Management and Operations Committee.
Many of the companies bidding for spots are global firms well known in the airport concessions field. All told the market for retail outlets and restaurants in North America is $9 billion, according to the trade publication Airport Revenue News. The MAC says the entire program generates more than $180 million in annual sales and about $25 million a year in rent to the commission.
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Janet Moore 612-673-7752
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