USA. United Concessions Group (UCG) is expanding its operations into Ohio Akron-Canton Airport, becoming the new exclusive food & beverage and retail provider. It has bought the existing lease – which still has ten years to run – from previous contract holder MSE International in a private sale.
The family-owned, Cleveland-based group has been trading for 40 years and operates in more than 20 locations in four airports – Philadelphia, Washington Dulles, Cleveland Hopkins and Pittsburgh International. It represents F&B brands such as Chick-fil-A, Potbelly and Bar Symon.
An Airport Concession Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (ACDBE), owned by the Rababy family, UCG will be operating seven outlets at the airport. They include retail store CAK Marketplace; Cinnabon; Walk Up Grill; local brands Muggswigz Coffee and Royal Docks Brewery; Great Lakes Brewing; and CAK Café.
Four of these locations are currently closed due to COVID-19 causing traffic falls but UCG said it is optimistic that all will be back open by the end of September.
“Travel will come back and we will be rewarded for seeing that early” – UCG Executive Vice President Spencer Shaw
Before the pandemic, MSE had been in the process of opening an additional new bar/grill/grab-and-go location. Ground-breaking never took place, but UCG said it would continue with the project when travel levels return sufficiently to support it.
The Moodie Davitt Report asked UCG Executive Vice President Spencer Shaw if now was a good time to be investing in such an F&B and retail programme, given the difficult conditions currently faced by the US airport industry. He said: “People will travel again. Now, more than ever, we see that people love to move around. Travel for work is just as much a perk as travelling for leisure and both will rebound. People find pride in travelling for work.”
He added: “Travel will come back and we will be rewarded for seeing that early. Hand shaking and negotiating face to face has an aspect that can’t be duplicated by technology. Until teleporting is invented, airplanes will be in the air and we will be there to serve the guests getting on them.’’
Although he wouldn’t be drawn on UCG’s other current US concession targets, Shaw said the company would continue to “grow responsibly’’ and will consider all opportunities.
Akron-Canton Airport is a commercial airport in the city of Green in Ohio, about ten miles southeast of Akron, Ohio’s fifth largest city.
