Some concessionaires at Denver International Airport fear they will lose precious business if the airport presses on with a redesign plan of up to $1 billion that looks to restrict the Great Hall to passengers and employees.
Moving security checkpoints from the large open area and turning it into a secure locale would stem a large pool of customers the businesses say they have long relied on: people dropping off or picking up someone.
Instead, they’d have to count on passengers to stop in as they hustle to and from faraway gates, or bet that a traveler awaiting a connection would make the effort to wander by.
And several passengers interviewed for this article expressed little interest in having to walk along the concourse to an escalator, ride it down two levels, hop a train to the main terminal, then reverse the process to catch their flight — even if it meant not having to go through the sometimes tedious security checkpoints.
“It wouldn’t promote more business,” said Steve Chacon, general manager of Way Out West in the terminal. “I don’t see people coming all the way from Concourses B and C.”
Airport officials disagree, saying the redesign is a profitable opportunity for businesses to capitalize on passengers killing time during layovers. Experts in the airport retail sector say although DIA’s plan is a good idea, passengers generally don’t stray far from the gates.
Plans are not yet finalized. The Denver City Council on July 15 said it wanted more details about financing the plan before approving the overall contract to redevelop the terminal.
There are more than 140 restaurants, shops and newsstands in the airport — about 25 of them inside the terminal’s two levels. If approved, the redesign would make room for additional businesses in the Jeppesen Terminal.
“I don’t know how many passengers will avail themselves of the (terminal’s) services because they’re just so nervous about not being where their flight is,” said Mary Dyer, manager of two restaurants in the main terminal and five on the concourses.
“I’d love it if they’d prove me wrong,” she said.
The plan is aimed at increasing non-aviation revenue and providing more retail opportunities for the airport’s 50 million annual passengers. More than 40 percent of them stop at DIA on their way to another destination.
That’s the biggest challenge: how to lure passengers on layovers from the concourses.
Baila Klein, an employee at Yaz Jewelry & Gifts, said that even with the incentive of not having to undergo security re-screening, passengers on the concourse would “not even bother” taking the trouble to get to the terminal.
“They wouldn’t take the train,” Klein said. “Most travelers aren’t thinking about shopping. And let’s face it, security’s not that bad.”
Others such as Paul Ayala, general manager of Seattle’s Best Coffee, are more upbeat about the plan.
“Hopefully, it will increase business,” he said. “It’ll be a great thing, and I can just see positive things happening from it.”
Passengers recently awaiting a connecting flight said they were satisfied with their concourse’s selection of retailers. Some said they wouldn’t venture to the terminal even if it was accessible. Others said it would depend on the length of their layover.
“Even if they made it where I would not have to go through security again, I wouldn’t visit the main terminal,” said Frank Perniciaro, on a layover from South Dakota to New Mexico.
He said he was content eating and shopping along the concourse.
Kenneth Lauritzen, on his way to California from New York, said he might walk around the terminal, though he was “not at all interested in shopping.”
Still, there are those who think the plan is a well-formulated strategy in part because spending at airports is often greater than spending in major malls.
“It’s a great opportunity for the airport to capture this revenue,” said Jon Schallert, president of Longmont-based Schallert Group Inc., who was a consultant on the project.
“Their plans are proactive, a way of looking at the future and capitalizing on all this traffic,” he said.
Sara Castellanos: 303-954-1381 or scastellanos@denverpost.com
DIA by the numbers
•There are 158,000 square feet of retail, food and beverage concession space in the terminal and concourses.
•There are approximately 1.5 million square feet of public space at the Jeppesen Terminal.
•DIA is the 10th-busiest airport in the world, with 50 million passengers annually. Of those, 22 million use DIA to make connections.
•There are more than 140 restaurants, shops and newsstands. Twenty-five of them are in the terminal.
•The average dwell time for passengers transferring planes is 1 hour and 40 minutes.
•DIA concessions generated nearly $243 million in gross sales in 2007.
