“If I Knew Then …”

A Conversation with Marlene Coleman
Director, Strategic Alliances
Areas USA

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​When  managing the concessions program at the world’s busiest airport, Marlene Coleman once thought concessions was a very lucrative business — “almost to the point where you think concessionaires are printing cash.” Since joining Areas USA, she now realizes that is a false impression. She now realizes that airport concessions teams see only sales and rent. Marlene now realizes that the airport perspective is “out of balance because there are so many other costs.”

Marlene has come to learn that concessions is “a very complex and costly business.” When at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, she would approve concessions plans if a sample P&L showed a profit. That was her airport point of view. Her view from the concessions side: “it’s not just the bottom line. It’s also maintaining the operation on a daily basis and maintaining the cash flow.” She notes concessionaires “have to make serious choices in other areas on how you’re going to maintain and manage those costs.” Further, in our post-Covid environment, “there’s not going to be a lot of room for us to grow financially if we don’t start to adjust.” Why is growth important? It’s the fuel all businesses need to sustain themselves – in this case, to sustain the passenger travel experience.
 
Here are three key takeaways from our conversation with Marlene that everyone in our industry – concessionaires and airports – will appreciate:

1. Dialogue is needed between airports and concessionaires of the economics to adjust the model and sustain the travel experience. “Nothing lasts forever. It’s a model. And models can be changed.”
2.  Although passengers are coming back and we’re getting back to 2019 levels, it’s three years later – current sales are “impacting the bottom line because we’re not exactly where we thought we would be at this period of time.”
3. ACDBE partners are struggling, leading some to consider leaving the airport concessions business altogether. Knowing what we know now, it’s important to update contract language to be a little bit more creative and flexible, including parameters that are not just protective of the airport, but also of the concessionaire (and their ACDBE partners).

 
These are just three takeaways. Throughout our conversation, Marlene argues a compelling case to adjust our industry’s business framework. We encourage you to watch, listen to, or read our interesting and informative conversation at the following links:

Watch the Video

Listen to Audio

Read a Transcript

​MEET OUR GUEST

​Marlene Coleman
Director, Strategic Alliances
Areas USA

​Marlene Coleman is the Director of Strategic Alliances for Areas USA. Marlene is responsible for building strong partnerships with the industry’s Airport Concessions Disadvantage Enterprise community, professional organizations, City Governments and Airport Commissions.
 
Ms. Coleman is an accredited airport executive, with over 20 years of extensive city government and aviation concessions management experience. In 2022, she was awarded the National Association of Minority Contractors Pacesetter Award and the Airport Experience News Property Manager of the Year. She is a passionate advocate for small, minority and female owned businesses.
 
Prior to joining Areas USA, Marlene was the director of Concessions Management at Hartsfield Jackson Atlanta International Airport. In her role, she directed the overall Concessions and Car Rental operations including strategic and space utilization plans development, lease administration, and service delivery.
 
She joined the Department of Aviation’s Concessions team in 1998 and moved up the ranks to serve as concessions business development manager in 2007. In 2011, she was promoted to director for the City of Atlanta’s Watershed Department, where she was responsible for developing the strategic plan for the department’s small, minority, female business program as well as overseeing the Small Business Development 15-week construction management training program.