Stories you will read in the August issue of Airport Revenue News

In a past episode of Mad Men, Don Draper, frustrated with his agency's lack of business, snaps at account man Peter Campbell, "Just get me in a room, Pete!" Don knows full well that once he is in a room with the client, he can work his Don Draper magic to close the deal.

Airport retail programs have become more and more shopping mall-like but with a larger, more captive audience. Catering to or creating a demand for a consumer need or want is at its most basic what retailers do. Still, unlike a shopping mall, there are a far greater number of distractions at an airport that unfortunately might not have anything to do with shopping. Therein lies the hurdle: getting customers into your store. This is the Peter Campbell. But once inside the immaculately designed and decorated establishment, it is up to the Don Drapers to work their magic. It's far too easy to say that training associates to engage, inform, and sell is all that is needed. Airport retailers know and wish it was this simple. Offerings such as high-end clothing to jewelry to electronics have become staples in concession programs, further divvying up a traveler's dollars from one operator to the next and thus placing a greater premium on engagement and education.

Now comes the more innovative pieces such as touch screens and tablets to aid in transforming that traveler into a consumer. The education and the selling of the customer has indeed evolved. Once you get them to choose your store it's up to you, then, to convert them. Carol Ward's story on Page 18 delves into what a handful of operators are doing.

On Page 24, Andrew Tellijohn compares the airport retail offerings here in the United States to those offered overseas. The gap may have narrowed, but the gap still exists.

I'd like to introduce a new column on Page 32 titled Airport Perspective. Each column will be penned by an airport executive sharing a new innovation or commenting on industry issues. Since August is our retail issue, we begin with John Reeb, the acting associate deputy director of San Francisco International (SFO). Reeb spotlights the airport's Pop-Up Retail program as a way to both showcase the local retail flavors of the Bay Area and give small businesses a taste of operating in an airport.

On Page 14, Chattanooga Airport Authority president and CEO Terry Hart speaks with Ward in regards to Chattanooga Metropolitan's growth.

These are but a few of the stories you will read in the August issue of Airport Revenue News.