Feb 15, 2008

Airport gift shop saved in tradeoffBy Sarita ChoureyMLive.com

Kalamazoo — Faced with losing its gift shop, Kalamazoo/Battle Creek International Airport has waived the tenant’s $6,000 annual rent and will instead accept payment in the form of tickets and event space at the Air Zoo, which runs the store.

The Kalamazoo Aviation History Museum, known to most as the Air Zoo, began an eight-year contract to operate the Fly Buy gift shop in 2002.

“It’s no secret that air travel is down,” said Bob Ellis, executive director of the Air Zoo. “And even though air travel is expected to increase during 2008, many people are so eager to get through the security check, myself included, they don’t have time to shop in the store.”

In 2007, passenger travel at the airport slid 7 percent, after falling 13 percent the previous year. Fewer travelers meant fewer customers at Fly Buy, which sells snacks, small toiletries and mementos from a 425-square-foot space next to the ticket counters.

If the airport had to search for a new tenant, “we may not get a quality candidate,” Airport Director Cliff Moshoginis said after the Aeronautics Board approved the agreement Thursday.

“And the Air Zoo is a quality candidate,” he said.

He said it could be difficult to woo a replacement tenant if the current tenant had left the space because it couldn’t make money.

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