Four new retailers have set up shop in perhaps the most secure area in Manitoba - the air-side of Winnipeg's new terminal building.
Upper Crust sandwich shop, Asian eatery Red Wok, PGA Tour golf store and a pair of T.G.I. Friday's restaurants - one for Canadian departures, the other for U.S.-bound passengers - have christened their inaugural locations at James Armstrong Richardson International Airport on the air-side of the security check points.
Christine Alongi, spokeswoman for the Winnipeg Airports Authority (WAA), said research has shown today's passengers are increasingly ignoring retailers on the public sides of airports because their priority is getting through security so they can relax before their flights.
The quartet of retailers will target the 3.5 million people who fly out of Winnipeg each year, a number that is expected to hit 5 million in the next 10 to 15 years, according to WAA projections.
A spokesman for U.S.-based T.G.I. Friday's said if the two airport locations are successful, it will definitely consider opening outlets in other parts of Winnipeg.
from Western Investor December 2011
