As Tampa International Airport's shops thrive, a trolley service will be created in the hopes that travelers will spend time and money at International Plaza, as well.

[Times photo: Thomas M. Goethe]
Sean Benson, 5, of England plays with a mechanized drawing toy at the Museum Company of Tampa International Airport.

By JEAN HELLER

TAMPA -- The lights in the Duty-Free Shop in the landside terminal at Tampa International Airport were off, the shelves stripped of perfume and liquor.

The shop hadn't drawn huge crowds before it closed this month, perhaps because the airport lacks overwhelming international air traffic.

But as far as airport shopping goes, it is the anomaly. New retail outlets that began opening in October 1998 during the major renovation of the terminal's third level seem to be thriving.

With the exception of a slight tick downward of less than 1 percent last October, gross revenues at the shops in the terminal have recorded steady -- and occasionally spectacular -- revenue spurts each month since they opened.

Now they are going to get a little competition.

The manager of International Plaza, the upscale mall under construction at the southeast corner of the airport property, said last week she has decided to run a shuttle between the mall and the airport with an eye to drawing airport customers who find themselves with some time on their hands.

"We're going to have a shuttle after a hotel is built here, so we have decided to start the shuttle when the mall opens in September and see how it goes," said Aj Jemison. "How successful it will be we don't know, but we'll see."

To be sure, there will be obstacles to overcome.

Tampa International is a destination airport. The vast majority of passengers begin and end their trips there. Since TIA isn't a hub, such as Atlanta or Chicago, there are few layovers. People don't hang around the airport with time to spare.

Delayed flights are not a major problem. Nearly 82 percent of incoming flights arrive on time and more than 88 percent depart on time.

If passengers did leave the airport to visit the mall, they would have to take their carry-on luggage with them. The airport did away with storage lockers years ago as security risks.

An informal survey of some frequent fliers found them less than enthusiastic about side trips to the mall from the airport.

"Absolutely not," said Helen Hameroff of St. Petersburg, who uses TIA for leisure travel. "To me, the most important thing is to get to the airport, get to the gate and be ready for the flight. The last thing I would do is shop. I will go to International Plaza, but as a trip independent of my travel."

Michelle Winowitch, an environmental scientist from St. Petersburg, had another concern.

"If I wanted to go to that mall, I'd just go on my own," Winowitch said. "Going to the mall would be a problem if you get to shopping and forget the time and miss your flight."

But Honey Rand, president of a Tampa communications firm, patronizes the airport shops and said she might try the mall shuttle.

"If my flight were delayed a couple of hours, I might be tempted to take a shuttle someplace," Rand said. "Everything I carry on is on wheels. I could drag it around the mall.

"Of course, I might not buy anything because I didn't have any place to put it. Or I might buy lots of things and buy another carry-on."

Jemison said she did not expect the mall to do any retail damage at the airport.

"They're two different environments," she said. "TIA has some of the better retail I've seen in airports. But it's mainly impulse and souvenir buying. I think the two places will be complementary."

Jemison emphasized that the invitation to ride the shuttle between the mall and the airport extended only to shoppers, not to travelers looking for a free place to park while they are out of town.

"We're working with the city now to find out what means we have to discourage people from doing that, and we will take every means at our disposal," she said. "We are not taking that matter lightly."

Louis Miller, executive director of the Hillsborough County Aviation Authority, doesn't see the new mall as any threat to retail operations at the airport.

"I don't see a person from the local community coming (to the airport) two or three hours early to go to International Plaza," he said. "Once the hotel is in place, and people fly in and shuttle over, it will work well. But that's no different than for people who stay at the hotels around WestShore (Plaza)."

Joan Ryzner, senior vice president for the retail division of HMSHost, the airport's principal concessionaire, isn't ready to dismiss the mall's initiative, but she isn't overly concerned, either.

"Obviously, it exposes our customers to another place to spend their money," Ryzner said. "But we're more focused on regional products, memorabilia and specialty items than this mall will be. I see International Plaza more as complementary than cannibalistic."

Ryzner has reason to be pleased with TIA.

Between October 1999 and March 2001, gross revenue at the 14 shops in the hub of the landside terminal have risen from $725,000 a month to more than $1.03-million a month. Food-and-beverage concession revenue has increased monthly from $996,000 to more than $1.4-million.

In the airsides, merchandise revenue has risen from $549,000 to nearly $790,000, and food-and-beverage revenue from $974,000 to nearly $1.5-million

The aviation authority's share ranges from 10 to 18 percent.

There have been several remarkable months.

In March 1999, merchandise revenue in the terminal and the airsides totaled more than $1.9-million, up from $1.2-million the previous month, reflecting the impact of the NCAA Final Four basketball tournament in St. Petersburg.

Last January, merchandise revenue topped $2.52-million, up from $1.6-million the month before because of the Super Bowl. Revenue at the Sports Scene shop alone jumped to nearly $888,000 in January from $125,000 in December, a peak holiday travel month.

Nationwide, passengers are experiencing increasing delays from airport construction, aircraft mechanical problems and weather, encouraging them to spend more money in airports. The 22 busiest airports in the country recorded an average 12 percent increase in sales in 1999 over 1998, according to Airport Retail News.

At TIA, the nation's 29th busiest airport, the increases were 56.5 percent in the landside terminal, due in part to the new shops, and 22.2 percent in the airsides.

With retail doing so well at the airport, what happened to the Duty-Free Shop?

"There's a duty-free shop in Airside D that serves Cayman (Airways) passengers and one in Airside F that serves passengers going to Canada and British Airways," Miller said. "People use those instead of wrestling their purchases from the landside terminal to the gate."

With retail profits showing a steady uphill trend, Miller said it was not difficult to find a project to occupy the empty third floor space between the banks of blue elevators. A franchise called Golf America will open there early in October.

"Why do people buy golf stuff in an airport? I don't know," Miller said. "But the history of this type of store at other airports says they do, and lots of it."

Facts/figures

CARRY ONS: If passengers left the airport to visit the mall, they would have to take their carry-on luggage with them. The airport did away with storage lockers years ago for security reasons.

REVENUES: Between October 1999 and March 2001, gross revenue at the 14 shops in the hub of the landside terminal rose from $725,000 a month to more than $1.03-million a month.

In the airsides, merchandise revenue has risen from $549,000 to nearly $790,000.

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