Article from The News-Press

Restaurant, stores get first approval to open at airport
By Laura Ruane Originally posted on October 17, 2007

Dunkin' Donuts, Beaches Travelmart and a "10 Minute Manicure" concession got the first go-ahead to come to the public area of the passenger terminal at Southwest Florida International Airport.

Resident business people who advise Lee County leaders on airport matters endorsed the plan Tuesday. It next will go to county commissioners for a final decision.

Representatives of the lead concessionaire Paradies-Shell Factory II LLC made the sales pitch at the regular monthly meeting of the Airports Special Management Committee.

The proposal includes:

• Two full-service Dunkin' Donuts, and two Beaches Travelmarts, one of each near the entrances to concourses B and D; and

•A 10 Minute Manicure shop near Concourse D. The Miami-based chain already has locations in 11 airports across the nation. It sells upscale makeup products as well as nail polish, manicures and pedicures.

"We are the No. 1-requested service in any airport," said CEO Lorraine Brennan O'Neil, referring to a recent report in USA Today.

The cosmetics are manufactured in Denmark, with prices "that are greater than those at the drugstore, but way under the department store," O'Neil said.

Beaches Travelmarts sell books, magazines, health and beauty aids, traveler electronics and more. There's already a shop on Concourse C.

Of the new stores, the doughnut and travelmart pair near Concourse B tentatively is scheduled to open by mid-January. The D-side shops, including the nail salon, are scheduled to open by mid-March.

The Paradies Shops reported gross sales of $13.9 million at Southwest Florida International.

The new stores are projected to add $2.5 million a year in sales for the Paradies partnership, and about $400,000 a year in income for the Lee County Port Authority.

Airport leaders said revenues from retail sales help contain fees they must charge airlines, and indirectly encourage carriers to retain and expand local service.