State auditors are examining BWI's concessions manager and the minority-owned shops and restaurants participating in a program designed to help them prosper, after mixed results, lawsuits and tenant complaints.
Some minority business owners say the airport and concessions manager BAA Maryland Inc. became so focused on building a large shopping mall inside the Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport that it hurt their ability to earn a larger share of the millions spent there.
The owner of the Celebrate Maryland gift shop, for example, said her sales fell after a larger rival was allowed to sell similar items. A couple operating a Church's Chicken franchise claim they lost money because BAA dictated their prices and hours. Also, the longtime operator of the smoothie shop Flying Fruit Fantasy said she couldn't afford renovations and higher rent in the new mall.
Those operations are gone from the airport. State reports obtained through the Maryland Public Information Act show that two other businesses have left the airport's Minority Business Enterprise program since 2004 when the state hired BAA to overhaul concessions to include more name brands, local merchants and minority members. Meanwhile, BAA has not met all of the minority goals set by the airport.
"I think the airport was thinking in very lofty terms about what BWI should be," said Melissa Fulton, who opened Celebrate Maryland in 1995 at BWI. She was evicted May 4 for not paying rent and is suing BAA, the airport and the state for $10 million for breach of contract.
"They thought they deserved to have a first-class retail program, and I agree. But I don't believe it should be at the expense of one of the very necessary components of the program, which is the local, small and minority business community that give the airport a real sense of place," Fulton said.
More variety
To be sure, there has been progress, and a BAA official said auditors will see that. Company officials say shopping choices have been widely expanded at the airport, where few name brands or local businesses were found in the past. In addition, officials have more than doubled the number of women- and minority-owned firms since launching the airport program. But while help is available for tenants, BAA said, merchants must succeed on their own.
State Transportation Secretary John D. Porcari, who oversees the airport and all Minority Business Enterprise programs, agrees that variety is greater than ever.
