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.

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