"Airport retailing: No Fear of Flying"

Friday, August 1, 2003

No Fear of Flying
Gifts and Decorative Accessories


Airport retailing has had its ups and downs over the last couple of years.
On the one hand, fear of traveling has kept many Americans from taking to
the skies, greatly reducing airport traffic. On the other hand, increased
security requires travelers to spend more time at airports, giving
restaurants, bookstores, apparel shops, and others more opportunity to
attract shoppers. 

One company that knows all the details of airport retailing is CBR Inc., of
St. Paul, Minnesota. CBR has been in the business more than 28 years, and
currently operates 33 stores in 12 major-hub airports from Portland, Oregon,
to Orlando, Florida. The stores present a range of merchandise, from men's
and women's clothing at Radio Road to Native American and Western jewelry
and gifts at Spirit of the Red Horse. CBR was a Gifts & Decorative
Accessories Merchandising Achievement Award winner in 2001 for its Creative
Kidstuff store in the Airmall of the Pittsburgh International Airport.

In 2002, BAA USA, operators of the Pittsburgh Airmall, came to CBR with
another offer: 800 square feet near the center core that they wanted to fill
with something "fresh and unique." After giving it a great deal of thought,
CBR came up with "toto," a trend gift store designed especially for airport
retail. "Toto was created in response to the frequent shopper's desire for
unique and special gifts," says Carole Howe, president of CBR Inc. "Our
assortment is constantly changing, resulting in a 'treasure hunt' experience
for our guests."

The name toto might bring to mind Dorothy and the Tin Man and the yellow
brick road, but in fact the store's moniker came about after three hours of
brainstorming by CBR's merchandise group. "Toto just felt right," says Howe,
"We wanted a name that was visually fun and easy to repeat. We also created
a toto custom logo type to look and feel the way the name sounds."

Limited room

The first challenge that CBR's in-house design team faced was figuring out
how to display 1,500 SKUs of merchandise in a mere 800 square feet of space,
while continuing to provide an easy-to-shop environment. To do so, they took
a page from retailing history by creating an upscale version of the
old-fashioned dime store, with library style bays and racked product. Walls
painted eggplant purple and bay-leaf green compliment cherry wood fixtures,
while frosted glass and brushed pewter accents complete the fixture package.


Because customers on their way to and from boarding gates are in a hurry,
the toto design accommodates them -- and the proverbial "wheelie" or other
carry-on luggage -- with wider-than-average aisles that enhance traffic
circulation.

Cross-gender appeal

According to CBR, airport retailing also faces the challenge of appealing
equally to men and women. Additionally, most travelers are repeat visitors,
coming to the same airport every year. To satisfy their needs, and to
maximize sales, an airport gift store has to constantly change its
merchandise assortment. 

Toto presents merchandise in themes, making an easy "read" for travelers.
For example, the Retro Diner bay features a large yellow "Eat" sign that
hearkens back to the roadside diners of the mid 20th century. The bay is
merchandised with products such as restaurant-style drinking straw holders,
salt and pepper shakers, menu covers, and nostalgic ceramic cookie jars. The
whole presentation says, "Here are the retro kitchen gifts!" 

Another bay, Treasure the Memories, focuses on gifts suitable for guys, such
as a classic black desk telephone, die-cast cars and trucks from the 1950s,
clocks and lamps with airplane motifs, and models of vintage aircraft. 

Greeting cards, the perfect add-on sale item, are not often available in
airport shops because of their small margin. But toto features an
eight-foot-tall merchandiser next to the cash/wrap desk displaying a wide
assortment of greeting cards presented full face so they are easy to
understand and peruse. A jewelry case is also part of the cash/wrap desk.

The results

Construction on toto began in May 2002. The store opened in August, and
travelers passing through the Pittsburgh International Airport have readily
taken to it. Sales for the first three months of operation were $150,000,
and the average transaction included four items. And that was despite a
fall-off in traffic because of cutbacks made by U.S. Airways, the airport's
major carrier. In the future, CBR expects toto's potential to reach that of
the company's Cincinnati/ North Kentucky International Airport toto, which
opened in February 2003, which has annual sales are trending to $950,000.

CBR Inc. opened a third toto at the Minneapolis/St. Paul International
Airport in June 2003, and another at the Cincinnati airport (in a different
concourse) just last month. All stores range in size from 730 to 900 square
feet. 

Up, up, and away.


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