Brooks Brothers and Brighton Collectibles, located in the Jacksonville International Airport, will be cutting their square footage and combining their stores into one location as the airport scales down its retail square footage to attract more food and beverage tenants.
According to Jeff Taylor, Senior Properties Administer for the Jacksonville Aviation Authority, the reason for this plan is based on the current trend of food and beverage in airports. The demand for retail purchases is not growing at the same speed, due to online shopping. “There is still room for retail, certainly. It is not growing nearly at the rate of food and beverage is,” said Taylor.
The overall plan is to add two new locations in the airport. The first location will be a 1,200 feet sit-down restaurant featuring quick made to order meals.
The second restaurant will be a coffee unit that will be located in Concourse A. Currently the airport has two Starbucks locations.
The plan is currently in the bidding process, with no new tenants announced yet.
Taylor said a decision on the winning bid should be made by the end of the summer. When construction begins the process will take about 9 to 10 months.
While some stores in the airport are losing square footage, a new lounge for passengers has finished construction.
On Wednesday, The Club JAX officially opened its doors. The Club JAX is located outside the TSA checkpoint, between the food court and pet and service animal relief area.
To gain access to The Club JAX, passengers purchase a $40 day pass online, or at the lounge or by Priority Pass membership. The pass includes the cost of food, beverages and alcohol.
The lounge gives passengers of any airline access to workspace, areas for relaxation, restrooms, a shower and unlimited refreshments.
Refreshments include an unlimited buffet and snack bar. Passengers over the age of 21 are offered unlimited local craft beers, premium wine and spirits while in the lounge.
Madison Roberts can be reached at newsteam@wjct.org or (904)358-6317.
