"Logan airport mulls Dunkin' drive-thru in parking structure"

Monday, May 10, 2004

Logan airport mulls Dunkin' drive-thru in parking structure
Nation's Restaurant News


BOSTON -- People who park in the central garage at Logan International
Airport soon may be offered more than a spot for their vehicles inside
the 7,000-space parking structure. They also could get Dunkin' Donuts
coffee and doughnuts to go.

The Massachusetts Port Authority, which operates Logan Airport,
confirmed that it is tossing around an idea with Randolph, Mass.-based
Dunkin' Donuts to install a drive-thru unit inside the garage.

'We're still in the talking stages," said Massport spokesman Phil
Olandella, who added that space already has been designated for such an
outlet.

"This is one of the ideas Jack [Hemphill, Massport's new business
general manager] has had to improve customer service at the airport,"
Olandella added. "We definitely want to see it done, and Massport
officials would like to have the unit up and running by August."

Hemphill, formerly a general manager for flight caterer LSG Sky Chefs,
was hired last fall as business general manager by Massport. The new
position was created in a reorganization of the port authority, in an
attempt to reverse a decline in airport revenues. In fiscal 2003 Logan's
revenue was about $300 million, compared with $314 million in 2002.

Calls to Dunkin' Donuts for comment were not returned. But Tom Coba, the
chain's vice president for franchising and new business development,
reportedly has said Dunkin' Donuts also was interested in the project.

"We recognize that there's a big opportunity out there in some
nontraditional areas," Coba was quoted as saying by the Boston Globe. He
also mentioned adding limited-service doughnut outlets at stops along
the Logan Express shuttle bus route.

Olandella noted that the drive-thru unit is one of several changes
Massport e would like to make in its parking service to make it more
user friendly. Next month the airport authority will begin testing a new
system in which customers will be able to use self-service kiosks to pay
for their parking before they get in their cars. The kiosks would be
located inside the airport terminal, near the baggage claim.

Massport also might experiment with a "frequent parker" program that
would allow some people to reserve space in the parking garage.

A drive-thru Dunkin' Donuts could be the first of its type in the United
States. Martin Stein, executive director of the Washington, D.C.-based
National Parking Association, said he never had heard of a similar
setup.

"However, I don't see why the concept couldn't work," Stein noted. "It
would all depend on the location and how the agreement between the
garage operator and the tenant is structured."

The Globe reported that Seattle-Tacoma International Airport in
Washington once featured an espresso stand inside its garage. That caffe
latte outlet ultimately closed because of changes in building codes.

Massport has been pushing its Logan Airport concessionaires to upgrade
their offerings in time for Boston's hosting of the Democratic National
Convention in July. BAA Boston, a subsidiary of BAA USA, operates food
and retail concessions in Terminal B, and Bethesda, Md.-based HMSHost
operates in Terminal C. Both terminals are being targeted by Massport
for renovation this spring.


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