Just last week we shared an annoucement that the Orlando International Airport had approved a multi-million dollar renovation plan that would improve parking and recruit more than 40 new restaurant and retail stores in Terminals A and B. Since that time, we’ve come to learn that most of those restaurant concepts won’t be run by those local partners.
According to Angela Starke, Senior Vice President of Public Affairs for the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority, each local business operates on its own agreement with a third-party concessions management company. For instance, OTG Concessions Management will be working with businesses like Black Bean Deli, Otto’s High Dive, Smoke and Donuts, Stasio’s Italian Deli and Market, and Starbucks to operate stalls under their branding, with the original concepts simply getting a check for a percentage of profits for sharing their names. And some of those restaurants won’t even be using the same product – though we hope for their sake they at least buy the bread from Stasio’s Italian Deli and not some cheap boxed option from Sysco.
In this first phase of renovations, the airport has agreements in place with multiple concessions companies, like MCO 2 JV, LLC which is working with Foxtail Coffee, Kelly’s Homemade Ice Cream, Swine and Sons (all of whom work together already on concepts across the state), and SoDough Detroit Pizza. SSP America MCO II is working with downtown Orlando’s Jam-Eng, and Zaza’s. The Marshall Group will be operating The Old Jail House, sharing its name with the first location in Sanford’s former Seminole County Jail building, as well as Writer’s Block Bookstore, and The House on Lang.
Each separate concessions company has its own business sub-agreements with its vendors that dictate staffing, profits, and product use. Most of these are still being completed at the time of this post. You can read more about the program below, in a package shared with us by the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority.
