St. Louis making millions off concession sales at Lambert Airport

By Mike Owens, I-Team Reporter

KSDK -- It's the time of year when travel is at its peak.

Whether you're coming or going, fighting hunger or a headache, you know you'll pay more at an airport.

"About 10 to 20 percent, I would think. Because they have you captive, they have you sitting there, and you can't go anywhere else. All of a sudden, you're hungry and they can charge the price, because people are going to pay it," said Al Puglessi, a frequent business traveler.

The main terminal at Lambert Airport is full of options. In fact, signs around the airport encourage travelers to "Discover Lambert" by eating, drinking and shopping.

If the selection and prices at Arch News look the same as those at News & Gifts, there's good reason for that. The shops are all owned by one company: Paradies Shops of Atlanta.

Its nine-year contract with the city details pricing arrangements between Paradies and the airport, and the policy is clear:

"The concessionaire agrees to ensure that all prices are attractive to the public and no more than 10 percent greater than prices charged for identical products found in comparable downtown locations.

"The comparable downtown locations for all product categories except drug sundries shall be St. Louis Union Station Retailers. The comparable location for drug sundries shall be St. Louis Center Walgreens."

The only problem with the contract? There hasn't been a Walgreen's at the now-closed St. Louis Center for years.

Lambert spokesperson Jeff Lea admits the contract has its issues.

"We are aware that those are some outdated facilities or operations and in fact the airport has accepted some other facilities to get those pricing guidelines," Lea said. 

To abide by the contract price, we shopped the one convenience store left in Union Station to do a few price comparisons.

M&Ms selling for $2.59 at Union Station are $3.99 at Lambert.

A three ounce bag of Cheez It : $1.99 at Lambert, $1.39 at Union Station.

Bottled water in Paradies selling for $2.09, but it's $1.60 Union Station.

Bottled water is a top seller at most airports and you can tell by the price.  At a convenience store across from the airport, a 20-ounce bottle of Aquafina is 99 cents.  At the North Hanley Metrolink, one stop before the Lambert terminal, it's $1.25. In an airport vending machine, it's $2.25.

What locations did Airport Vending, LLC use to determine "street price" for its water?  Documents provided by the airport show they used America's Center and the Zoo.

It's not just the Paradies-owned shops that have pricing contracts with Lambert.  The contract with its food concessionaire HMS Host, also stresses comparison pricing.
NewsChannel 5 did some comparison shopping which shows some airport food outlets are more on-target than others.

At Starbucks, a medium coffee is $2.20 in the main terminal, $1.85 at a nearby store.

A meatball sub at Pasta House is $8.99 at both the airport and on West Florissant Road.

There's more variance with the cheese pizza.  A 12-inch pie will set you back $7.99 at the restaurant and $9.89 at the airport.

Airport officials will tell you it's the high cost of doing business at the airport that drives prices up.

"You have security fees, you have parking fees you wouldn't have at other locations.  You have construction costs, all those fees are higher at an airport," Lea said.

Those same high prices generate millions for the city.  About $2 million a year for the last three years.  All of that money goes right to the airport's bottom line.

But it's these same high prices that end up driving some customers away.

"We had at least three or four people in here today that had bought stuff, preparing to go to the airport," said Jett Seal, who manages the Petro Mart across the street.

Alaskan traveler Sharon Starry always comes prepared. "I bring my own lunch and people walk by and go, 'Where'd you get that?' I brought my brownies and sandwich from home," she said.

Click here to compare Lambert's pricing to the top 20 airports in the country.