Ep 105: Meet the African-American Woman Dominating the Airport Retail Landscape

Have you ever been in the airport, walked into a store or restaurant, and wondered who owns it or how that particular store got such prime real estate?

Well, today’s guest will shed light on an industry I personally knew very little about. And I promise you you will never look at an airport news, gift shop, or restaurant the same way again.

Her name is Mary Morgan and she is the President of Morgan Group Ventures, Inc.

Mary entered the airport arena initially as a consultant to the Metropolitan Washington Airport Authority which sparked an interest in airport concessions. After five years of management consulting, Mary decided she wanted to focus solely on concessions and obtained her first inline retail location (Pen & Prose Boutique), which she continues to operate today.

Following five years of retail operations, Mary entered a partnership with

HMSHost where she has been able to jointly bid, win and operate food and beverage and

news and gift locations within airports. Today, Mary operates independently and in conjunction with HMSHost multiple locations in National, Dulles and BWI Airports. Mary has also operated concessions in Philadelphia International Airport.

Prior to founding Morgan Group Ventures, Mary worked in Fortune 100 companies providing financial services, strategy, process redesign and information technology services. She is also a CPA and received her BS in Accounting from Virginia Commonwealth University and her MBA in Finance and Marketing from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School.

Today, Mary shares:

The barriers to entry in airport retail The inside scoop on getting your business into an airport The keys to success in airport retailing And more!

Listen on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, Stitcher and Google Play

Links mentioned on this episode

Morgan Group Ventures Pen & Prose Boutique HMS Host Cathy Hughes

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