In an attempt to inspire local restaurateurs and entrepreneurs to consider operating the cafe and bar and gift shop at the Aspen/Pitkin County Airport, officials are circulating news of an upcoming Request for Proposals (RFP) months in advance of the RFP being officially posted.
“We’d like to attract creative foodies in the restaurant or food serving business and retail entrepreneurs to consider this opportunity,” said Airport Director, John Kinney. “We have an opportunity here to offer something unique and local to our travelers. We’d like our cafe to be a positive and possibly memorable experience for them. We’d like our gift shop to reflect the Aspen community,” Kinney said.
The RFP’s could be submitted together or separately. Airport officials are reaching out to the community to learn what the interest is in operating a restaurant and cafe together or as separate businesses with separate operators. Feedback is being collected online at www.pitkincountyconnect.com or by contacting Jennifer Mitchley at jennifer.mitchley@aspenairport.com .
The airport cafe and bar and gift shop are currently located in Sterile Area of the terminal. That means only security screened travelers will have access to these amenities. Local, live music is performed there on the busiest, weekend travel days. Over 550,000 travelers come and go from the airport annually and has been steadily increasing every year.
“We find that travelers want to get through security in ample time before their flights and they have quite a lot of time to hang around. Our cafe and bar and the gift shop operation are available to over a half a million travelers a year that pass through our facility,” Kinney said.
The official RFP for the cafe and bar and gift shop operations is expected to be published in mid-January on the www.bidnet.com website. A pre-proposal meeting is tentatively set for January 26, 2017 with the exact time and location to be announced in the official RFP. Potential interested applicants are advised to register at www.bidnet.com and watch for the RFP to be posted. A new cafe/gift shop could begin business as early as next Spring.
“We wanted to get the word out in advance of the official RFP so that potential local applicants could have ample time to work on this proposal. We’re looking forward to a great local response,” said Kinney.
Contact: Jennifer Mitchley - jennifer.mitchley@aspenairport.com, 970-429-2854