McCarran effort to pull in retailers put on hold
McCarran International Airport's attempt to bring in more small retailers through a business incubator program will be grounded for the near term.
Three companies submitted bids to run the program, which would have placed 10 kiosk retail outlets throughout the airport. But two did not meet the minimum requirements and the other left several blanks in its proposal.
As a result, airport management will attempt to rework its proposals to attract more interest.
Small retailers often do not have the balance sheets to pay for the hundreds of thousands of dollars in improvements the come with an airport shop. In addition, they have little experience in marketing to a captive and limited clientele. The pushcarts, used in some other airports, are intended to hold the initial investment to a fraction of a permanent location's and give small businesses a way to learn the market with relatively small overhead.
Further, airport management wants to diversify its brand assortment beyond what is already there.
Contact reporter Tim O'Reiley at toreiley@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5290.
