February 2012

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The popular Z Market concept from HMSHost offers clean, bright and organized visual merchandising.

ecause of stepped-up security efforts, travelers are spending more time than ever in airports. HMSHost, with an award-winning retail division, is meeting the challenge of serving the traveling public with retail concessions in 25 major airports, including 10 of the top 20 busiest in the United States.

HMSHost’s diverse retail experience includes over 200 stores in airports, plus stores in travel plazas and specialty destination locations. The company’s creative mix of merchandise concepts includes newsstands, regional gift stores, bookstores and national brands.

In addition to following trends, the company, which has served travelers for more than 100 years, offers top-notch training for its employees, and sets up its stores utilizing a visual merchandising strategy that is both inventive and targeted.

The company’s stores are sleek and trend-conscious. Jim Schmitz, the company’s vice president of merchandising and retail concepts, said there is a trend toward luxury goods and a demand from consumers for more quality, authenticity and luxury at a reasonable retail. An example of this trend is the stocking of Ghirardelli chocolates, but the move toward high-end goods can be found everywhere from other consumables to apparel, it is across the board and also includes gifts, he said.

Travelers are always looking for items to make their trip more comfortable, and Schmitz said the company is offering private label travel pillows that also fit in with the demand for quality. Schmitz said there is a movement away from a “Let’s do it cheaper” mindset. The customer will pay for authentic reasonable value goods in everything from readables, and consumables to apparel and souvenirs. “It is raising the standard, getting out of that bottom tier,” he said.

This HMSHost-run store taps into the lucrative personal care market.

The company is also adapting to security changes that affect the traveling public. For example, during a code orange, or no liquids on planes, sales of beverages were impacted. Now, the company is seeing an upswing in postsecurity beverage purchases. Also, there is more of what is called “dwell time” for the traveler, and a general uncertainty about how long it will take to go through security. The company has found a need for a shopping mall mentality and a demand to see more of what consumers can get land-based. The response has been to carry more offerings to allow travelers to shop at the airport.

In Houston, Atlanta and LAX, for example, the company carries brands that appeal to travelers, plus brands with a local flavor for residents who don’t have the time to shop at home outside of the airport location.

The company has stores called Z Market, which are specialized shops where travelers can get travel goods and necessities. The company is taking the convenience items and, to coin a word, “luxurizing” them, he said. And some stores with a local flavor are attractive to both residents and travelers looking to experience an area’s culture. At a travel plaza in Chesapeake, for example, there is a local deli and a national brand with location name recognition.

The move toward high end offerings translates especially well in the area of apparel. A store called Mango will open in the mid-to-late fall, he said. This Spanish retailer is like H & M, fashion forward with moderate to bridge price points and a “fashion right” product.

Brad Siedner, the company’s vice president of retail operations, said many of the firm’s training programs cross over between management and associates, with the vast majority of programs offering both groups the same training. There are 2,000 employees in the company’s retail division, a figure that includes associates and management.

In all, the first 90 days on the job is chock full of activities to ensure that employees have all the tools necessary to be successful, Siedner said. The first training piece is orientation, which includes an orientation to the organization and the airport, such as understanding how things work in the airport. There is a full week of behind-the-scenes training on registers and cash handling, essentially the basics of working in a store.

Employees also go through what is called Five Star Customer Service Training. The focus of this training is on the customer experience, the interaction between the employees and the customers. And there is Basic Selling Skills training on how to take what was learned in customer service training and apply it to selling what is in the stone. Within the first 30 days, there is a workshop on visual presentation and visual techniques.

The first full week on the job, there is training with a coach where employees are getting feedback from a certified trainer before they are turned out on their own into a store. The workers practice day-today operations, inventory control and loss prevention.

Like all retailers, HMSHost engages in the debate over what qualities to look for in employees. Siedner said first and foremost, the company wants enthusiastic, warm and personable people. In that first interaction, the company can get a sense that the potential employee can interact with people and if they are smiling and want to interact. Businesses can’t teach friendliness and the ability to help others, he said.

The company employs across a wide demographic, drawing in workers with diverse backgrounds and experiences. The male and female mix is pretty close, and the age group depends on the city, Siedner said. The company employs young people who are just starting out, and older people looking to supplement their incomes. “It is always fast-paced, an airport is always go, go, go. You meet really interesting people,” he said, adding that employees cite that fact as a reason why they enjoy their jobs.

Employees play a crucial role in the company’s success, as they really represent multiple brands, both the HMSHost brand and the product or store concept brand. This extra element makes it essential that the company maintain its focus. “We can’t let it slide, because there is so much more at stake in these relationships,” Siedner said.

For managers, the company has Manager In Training (MIT) I and II training, which are management development programs. In MIT I, there is a training period in management, leadership and operations, and in MIT II, the focus is on financial management, financial tools, safety and loss prevention. The company also offers the Career Development TOPS program. In this program, individuals work on an individual management development plan so they can fulfill their career goals.

For HMSHost, display is all about how to showcase products. Pat Villata, who is the director of retail merchandising, said for space planning the company works through buyers. Some locations, such as newsstands, can be cut and dried when it comes to display, she said, and locations such as luggage stores, high fashion and specialty apparel can take more visual input. The company employs visual standards such as pyramids and repetitions. With the brands, the company supports visual needs according to the brand’s standards. For example, specialty sunglasses are supported how the brands want them displayed. Still, specialty stores and newsstands all come under the company’s control.

HMSHost’s high-end airport retail concept World Passage responds to consumers’ preferences for luxury with apparel and accessories from Coach, Armani, Givenchy, Ralph Lauren and others.

The company has outside visual experts who travel throughout the United States to develop a sense of place for a particular airport, and how to display well is trained in the company’s branches. As there may be 200 associates in one branch, the group is broken down and provided with hands-on visual training. There is also a visual guide for every store, a copy of the standards, and certain employees in each branch are certified to train new hires. In some cases, the branch does their own displays using a planogram, which is a diagram of fixtures and products that illustrates how and where retail products should be displayed. Employees working on displays at newsstands and of apparel, hard goods and souvenirs will work from photographs, she said. The training also includes imparting an understanding of what it is to be a merchant.

Keeping the stores outfitted with a cutting- edge appearance means that remodels are going on all the time, she said. At times, walls are moved and new floors and lighting are installed, projects managed by the design and construction department. At the beginning of the year, there is a forecast and budget process that takes into consideration which stores need remodeling and to what degree. For example, some stores may just need a fresh coat and revamped graphics. It is this type of care and attention to detail – in display as well as in following trends and in employee training - that has made HMSHost a leader in the industry.