Commentary

Considering an airport location? Bavaro founder shares lessons learned

Bavaro's pizza founder shares lessons learned from moving into an airport location.

May 23, 2017

By Dan Bavaro, Bavaro’s Napolatana & Pastaria

My Tampa-based restaurant chain recently joined the restaurant offerings at Tampa International Airport. Specifically, our location at the airport is planted in the new Marche, or fresh market there, that serves Southwest Airlines. Each of the brands in the Marche offer on-site dining and to-go options to take on flights. Customers simply retrieve orders at any restaurant they choose, then pay at a central cash station.

We are one of six restaurants representing the foods of Tampa, a trend with airports nationwide to expose travelers to an area's local flavors. Bavaro's has the exclusive rights to the pizza category, with other brands claiming space for items like fresh grilled oysters, Greek cuisine, churros, salads and healthy grab-and-go options.

Tampa International officials says the Marche houses the airport's largest concentration of new restaurants. The airport's strategy is to bring in local concessions to enhance the passenger travel experience.

An opportunity and a challenge

When this airport opportunity presented itself, we didn't hesitate. Though at that point our brand did not have any experience in an airport location and we expected some challenges, I was confident our team would work through them.

As it turns out, one of the greatest challenges faced in this location revolved around airport fire codes that mandated we make some compromises on our pizza oven, a fact some brands might find too limiting. But we worked it through and as it turns out,our 600-square-foot airport location is now up and offering a limited menu and counter service, with seating in a shared open area for the Marche.

Like all the foodservice businesses in this location, our brand is open from morning up until those late night "red-eye" flights have left the ground, well into the evening. To accommodate this need, we not only had to make some substantial changes in our employee staffing, but we also needed to add breakfast offerings to accommodate the morning customers.

Sharing lessons learned

So, yes, we worked hard to make this location happen. But, my philosophy is that you learn from solving challenges. That is, in fact, where you restaurateurs and business people, in general, gain experience and expertise. Obviously this was a big and very different step, but by approaching it with careful planning and a commitment to never compromise on quality, we found that it was worth a calculated risk. After all, that's really how you grow your business and poise a brand for the future.

To that end, for those considering a similar challenge in an airport location, here are the lessons I learned:

Don't sacrifice your product quality or elements important to your brand to accommodate what most pizza operators will find are quite different distribution channels in airport settings.
Do look for creative ways to negotiate for your needs within the airport setting.
Pick your battles strategically regarding your needs, versus those of the airport.
Protect your brand at all costs.
For an airport marche setting, work with a diverse, experienced restaurant group aligned with your brand's core values.

It takes work, but ultimately this kind of change in venue or location for your brand can pay off well, not only in the experience and brand exposure you gain, but also in the revenue we're all in this game to create. And, from that standpoint of revenue, Bravaro expects to generate about $1.5 million annually here. I see that as a great opportunity to "take-off" for growth.

Dan Bavarro founded Bavaro's Napolatana & Pastaria in 2009, which now has three Florida locations, with one more planned this year. (Photo: Jeff Houck)

Feature photo: iStock