Come Together - My Memories Of When Industry Heads United

Here is what I hope will be a feel good story…

I was up late one night and it wasn’t because I fell down the glorious rabbit hole that is Tik Tok. 

Unable to sleep, I was scrolling through old pictures on my phone and came across one that featured the heads of the largest food and retail operators in airports. The picture triggered my thoughts on the airport food and retail industry today and how companies and people hang on every tiny uptick of passenger traffic or increase in consumer confidence in traveling, particularly flying.

Like all industries, airports have been rocked for the last year by this pandemic. I liken it to punishing waves repeatedly battering a boat out in open water. Each blow slowly weakens the framework of what had been built to withstand a beating but not necessarily repetitive battering that seems to come with no end. 

The silver lining is that those who were once competitors have now banded together around a common cause: outlasting the pandemic.

The Airport Restaurant & Retail Association was originally formed to rally a group around common issues such as pouring rights and construction costs. COVID cemented their union and shifted their focus. Going on about a year now, the group continues to push for their survival, working in concert to share ideas and assistance.

As for the picture, it was taken at an ARN Conference in Las Vegas. This was 2013.

Thinking back to that period, I wondered what it would be like to gather these heads of industry together into one room to chat. At the time it seemed rather ambitious. I wondered if any would even agree to do it. I had varying degrees of relationship with each and didn’t know if my pull would be great enough to sway them.

There was another obstacle: the communications folks. They were the guardians, the bodyguards.

I reached out to each of the comms folks and gave the pitch. The feeling I received from some was a wariness bordering on suspiciousness. Frankly, I understood why.

In a regulated environment like airports, in addition to a bevy of contracts under way or soon to be issued, our industry, rightfully, was very cautious with what they said and mindful of how it would be interpreted. It’s why they often gave canned, highly structured, and meticulously crafted responses or quotes. From a media perspective, it’s not always enlightening for the person giving the quote, the person who has to write the piece including the quote, or the person who has to read the story with the quote and go, “Meh.”

But I stuck to the mission of the roundtable. Would we touch on some industry issues? Yes. But my goal was to pull back the curtain and give each the opportunity to show the depth of their character story, which was beyond the role of sitting atop their respective organizations.

The one thing I was steadfast in my position was that I would not send questions in advance. They would have just my general synopsis of the article’s purpose to go by. That’s it.

The comms folks had their fears relatively assuaged and went to their bosses with the ask. A couple days later I got emails of confirmation. We’re in. Send time and place. A couple of the execs even texted me directly saying they trusted my approach.

I was over the moon. I have to say that I did this without having to play any against the other. 

There was no, “Well this person and this person is going to be there so do you want to be left out?”

I didn’t strong arm anyone. And if you know me, I am certainly not the strong arming type either physically or metaphorically or symbolically. Not at all.

Additionally, this was WAY before Zoom became a tool and, eventually, a verb. It just didn’t happen that you would gather all these hard-to-reach execs. Nobody had done it in any formal way. They had hectic schedules and numerous meetings. It was akin to herding cats. 

This was also a time when the industry was on the rebound from the most recent recession. There was plenty of business to chase. And plenty of business meant competition. The competition meant their guard would surely be up. 

Basically, there were many reasons to decline and I would not have faulted any of them.

But they committed. All of them? Yes, all of them.

Internally came questions about, “What do they have to say?”, “Is it worth it?”, “Is anyone going to read it?”, and “Who wants to hear from them?”.

All were valid points. But this had never been done in our history. It had always been a collection of quotes or interviews on topic x but never had it been executed in this fashion. 

I did it anyway.

We touched a little bit upon industry topics and mainly hit on their ascent and how they each were forged into the executives and leaders they had become. 

I am not going to say that the piece was going to win me a Pulitzer. But what it did for me was undo some of the preconceived notions I had about each person and their relationships with one another by allowing (myself) a peek behind the curtain. I hoped that it did the same for readers.

The interview was held in a suite that overlooked much of the Las Vegas strip. Our previous publisher had done a terrific job of stocking the room with drinks and snacks and making it comfortable for those involved.

The execs would each trickle into the room, sizing up the situation. With their comms folks in tow they, for the most, part stuck to them as the room filled. It was like being a new kid in a new high school, standing in the cafeteria looking for a place to eat. You had to choose wisely.

Soon the room was filled and, whether naturally or forced by having no other option to do so, everyone began to mingle. There certainly was an energy and a buzz.

After allowing them all to exchange pleasantries, I ushered the execs into the boardroom of the suite where they each took their seats. Their comms folks sat on the periphery and within reach of being able to lean in and whisper in the event that there was a question that they did not particularly like or provide an answer that they should give. Thankfully, that never happened. They simply listened intently. Some took notes.

As the interviewer, I had the seat at the head of the table. When I started to thank them all for coming, they seemed to all swerve in unison in my direction like soldiers standing at attention, the sound of their boots slamming on the ground. I really don’t recall what I said at that point other than I recall the room feeling extremely warm. Or it was my nervousness cascading heat over me.

The interview was rather structured and felt a bit stiff and rehearsed. Thankfully things evolved to more of a conversation, which included some side banter and genuine laughter. Unfortunately, archaic adherence to print page constraints dictated that much of this had to be edited. I'm hoping for my own Snyder Cut.

Before I knew it, over an hour passed and the interview was over.

I hoped that the sigh of relief wasn’t too apparent on my face nor too loud for anyone to notice.

The atmosphere before the interview and after the interview was markedly different. Entering the room everyone was cordial and reserved. Leaving the room everyone continued their laughter. There were even promises of connecting after the show.

"What if we could all work together somehow? Even as competitors?"

Hours after the roundtable, I ran into an exec as I made my way to a session. He was walking towards me in deep conversation with his team who were listening intently. I didn’t think he’d spot me nor would I want to interrupt so I intended to keep going. To my surprise, he actually stopped and waved me over to thank me. He remarked that though each of those execs knew one another and crossed paths on numerous occasions, it was the first time they had all actually been in the same room together for an extended period of time and the reason was not because of an RFP. And these are some folks who, at the time, had been in the industry for over two decades! 

Another exec who I unfortunately ran into as I was entering and he was exiting the restroom noted that it was great to learn more about each of them from a human standpoint.

Later, another exec remarked that it felt good not to be so on guard, even if for an hour. He even thought, “What if we could all work together somehow? even as competitors?”

We both laughed a bit and noted that it would never happen. 

Looking back now, I think, “Never say never”.

Which brings me back to today.

The idea of the formation of the Airport Restaurant and Retail Association was birthed long before the pandemic. What the pandemic managed to do is, despite being competitors and many having been free agents crossing from one team to another, reveal that there can be a unity around collective causes because there is more that makes us similar than what makes us different. And after speaking to many since the Airport Restaurant and Retail Association’s forming, I listened to them realize that there are ways that these competitors can help one another and without negatively affecting them. This wasn’t totally zero sum.

If you are a member of the Airport Restaurant and Retail Association and/or have listened in on their many meetings, there is a markedly different tone and approach.  On one call that included the current heads of the large operators, it was revealed that people would be surprised just how much each of them talk on a weekly and daily basis. It actually felt good to hear that.

Now, it is on trend to have groups of these executives on a panel or a roundtable to jointly discuss any number of issues. It is no longer out of the norm. Everybody is doing it. But it comes out of necessity and, hopefully, as a result of more cordial relationships.

These times need more collaboration. Heck, collaboration should pretty much be a requirement.

We are an industry that is almost entirely comprised of professionals who have spent many a winter and summer building, expanding, extending, renewing and doing it all over again and again.  What accompanies these experiences are long memories--good and bad--of a niche industry’s lifeline on the ascent, precipitous fall, and eventual and inevitable ascension.

I recently had conversations with several industry friends and the back half of our talks always included a bit of a retrospective. We would cite names like Dan and Jim Paradies, Mario DiDomizio, Jack McCarthy, Chuck Moran, and others. It seemed like a distant time but the memories are still within reach of our mental recall. We remarked just how much, in the time (over fifteen years for me) we have been in the airport food and retail space, things have changed and how much of it had been for the good.

But here is what I am most curious about.

When the pandemic is over and the industry has returned to some form of new normal, do we retreat to our houses and once again vie for the Iron Throne? Perhaps. But it will hopefully come with the memory that during such a historic and unprecedented event they came together and united.

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This is meant to be a thought provoker and a conversation starter.