Home > About BNE > Press Room > 2008 Archive > May > Buffalo Niagara International Airport to expand

Airport to get food court, new retail

Delaware North sets $7.6 million project

By Sharon Linstedt NEWS BUSINESS REPORTER

Updated: 05/28/08 9:59 AM

Anchor Bar chicken wings and Anderson’s custard cones are joining the menu at the Buffalo Niagara International Airport as part of a sweeping concessions makeover that will include a sit-down food court.

Checkers, a hamburger eatery, and Villa Pizza, two national brands, along with Blue Zone, a bar/restaurant featuring Labatt Brewing Co. products will also be part of the greatly expanded airport dining experience.

Buffalo-based Delaware North Cos. will spend $7.6 million to add some 12,000 square feet of new restaurant and retail space at the airport under a revised concessions contract approved Tuesday by the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority’s board of commissioners.

“We want to provide a great airport experience, but also make it a hometown experience,” said Nicholas Biello, chief operating officer of Delaware North’s Travel Hospitality Services division. “What could be more iconic to Buffalo than the Anchor Bar?”

The Anchor Bar will be the main course of a new 11,000-square-foot food court located in newly built space that is a byproduct of the airport’s $30 million baggage handling system upgrade. The 10-year-old airport’s security checkpoint is also getting a $7.2 million relocation and expansion as part of the changes.

“We’re at a stage where we need to make significant changes to adapt to the number of passengers we’re handling,” said NFTA Executive Director Lawrence Meckler. “We couldn’t just sit still.”

The new food court will be situated just beyond the new security checkpoint in the East Concourse. The 1,800-square-foot Anchor Bar will have table service for 74 diners, with bar seating for another 42.

The semi-enclosed restaurant will face a 200-seat food court that will include walk-up versions of Villa Pizza, Checkers, Freshens, and another yet-to- be-named food seller. Anderson’s will find a home in what is now Jake’s Bistro & News, near Gate 21.

Delaware North, which oversees food and retail services at more than 30 airports worldwide, conducted an in-airport survey to determine the best menu mix.

“We found out they wanted choices, so we’re making it like a mall with a lot of diversity. They can sit down, grab and go, or something in between,” Biello said.

The Prairie-style Landmark Bar and Carvery will get physical and menu face lifts.

The West Concourse will also see its table reset. Work is already under way to create the Blue Zone, a bar/restaurant that will target passengers using Gates 1-4. Delaware North is renovating and expanding space that previously housed Freshens to create a venue that looks out onto the runway.

A Vito’s kiosk will also serve passengers departing the East Concourse.

Those dropping off or picking up travelers are not left out of the concessions revamp. The Niagara Grill, Burger King and All-Star Bar will also be eliminated as part of the reconfiguration, replaced by new “meeters and greeters” bar/cafe/lounge.

“The focus will be on comfort,” Biello said. “It will be a nice place to sit and have a coffee, drink and a light meal while you’re waiting for grandma’s place to get in.”

The Blue Zone will debut in July, with the Anchor Bar opening in late 2008 or early ’09. The full food court will be complete by next summer.

The NFTA and Delaware North, which has held the airport’s master concessions contract since the early 1980s, have been in talks about about re-configuring food and retail space in light of post-9/11 security requirements.

“When the airport terminal was built, 40 percent of purchases were made precheckpoint, and 60 percent post-security. Now it’s more like 95 percent, post-security,” the Delaware North executive said.

On top of security-caused changes in purchase patterns, the highly successful airport has also been struggling with how to feed and entertain record passenger tallies. Over the past decade, flier totals have swelled from 2.9 million a year to 5.3 million in 2007.

“We’re at a critical point in BNIA history,” Meckler said. “This will be a tremendous boost to our ability to adapt to the number of people going through the terminal.”

The upcoming concessions changes are governed by Delaware North’s 15-year contract extension with the NFTA, which is expected to see the authority net a $57 million share of food and retail revenues.

The contract, which runs through November 2027, will see the NFTA receive between 11 percent and 18 percent of gross revenues of food, beverage and other sales. The deal also includes performance guarantees to ensure high customer service.

The pact also boost service levels by requiring vendors to open earlier and stay open later to accommodate early morning departures and late night arrivals.