That is exactly right.
Anyone visiting an airport would be hard pushed to find anything other than
a large chain operator within the sales complex. Landlords want a strong
covenant (Cash in the bank) for occupiers in their space as this gives them
better investment values and longer term security. They also prefer the
larger operators as they attract others.
In addition, the more lucrative the space, the higher the rents and
premiums.
With a smaller operator, the requirement to rent this type of space is
liable to involve paying several years rent upfront and possibly the payment
of a hefty premium for the privilege and even if you can meet these
criteria, if any larger operator has an interest in the same unit, kiss it
goodbye.
The best possibility of obtaining a unit within this environment is to try
and get a sublet from one of the existing occupiers as there are some that
are not quite as worried about the overall covenant strength. Good examples
of units to target are those that belong to direct competitors and also,
units sometimes become available due to mergers between two competitors.
With up to £3 million backing, you could still be playing second fiddle to
the big boys in most airports.
To a lesser degree, this is also how most high street rentals work.
DaveS
> -----Original Message-----
> From: John Hibbs [SMTP:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
> Sent: 02 February 2001 22:28
> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Subject: RE: [cc] Cybercafes in airports
>
> I used to work for a company that was the forerunner to Duty Free
> Shoppers; I was also very much involved in locating video games. In
> both cases, we had to have a keen, keen eye on airports and
> acquisition of leases at favorable rents. This became increasingly
> difficult to the point that most of us "middle men" got squeezed
> between the airport managers and big corporates who wanted a presence
> that was "justified" as much because of its advertising "reach" as
> from the profits generated by the sales.
>
> My suggestion would be to "work backwards", first taking the lease
> costs per foot. You might even find that you are not sufficiently
> credit worthy for the space, as very often airports only want Fortune
> 500, regardless of your own high rating (as a small player).
>
> Before you get too caught up in what will work or what won't work,
> make sure that you can indeed get space and what it will cost. You
> might conclude that you either can't qualify or if you did you would
> never make the rent regardless of how promising are the forecasts.
>
> For what it's worth...
> John Hibbs
> www.bfranklin.edu
>
>
> At 6:28 PM +0000 02/01/01, David Sullivan wrote:
> >When we looked at doing this in an airport, we guestimated (partly from
> ours
> >and friends experience) that 30 minutes up to 1 hour would be the norm
> >unless there were flight delays. We planned on selling a minimum of 30
> >minutes usage time with the customer option to take more at any stage.We
> >figured that this would give us the best continuous flow of users without
> >them feeling that they were being ripped off. We also planned on
> targeting
> >the games users, especially as most families have kids in tow who are a
> >nightmare to keep an eye on. What also surprised us was the number of
> 18/30
> >type groups who end up lounging in the larger open cafe areas whilst
> waiting
> >for flight calls.
> >With regards to laptop users; a server connected to a 24 port hub which
> in
> >turn has connector points strategically placed (fixed), either to the
> wall
> >or from a central point on the tables was our solution. Power points
> were
> >also incorporated into this setup.
> >Even though we were aware we could get business users, we placed them
> very
> >much of secondary importance with the arcade style predominant in our
> minds.
> >
> >Regards
> >DaveS
> >
> >> -----Original Message-----
> >> From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> >> [SMTP:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
> >> Sent: 30 January 2001 18:19
> >> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> >> Subject: RE: [cc] Cybercafes in airports
> >>
> >>
> >> Beth, David and Kireau,
> >>
> >> Thanks a lot for your help!
> >>
> >> I'm planning to open this cybercafe in the airport of a Latin American
> >> city
> >> with 1-1.5M inhabitants (I won't name it here 'cos my partners are
> afraid
> >> someone might steal our idea) and a high income per capita (close to
> >> European standards). We won't have to bother with Starbucks and things
> >> like
> >> that yet, but McDonald's is everywhere and I'm sure that they'll get
> some
> >> of
> >> our younger potential clients. Another good point: the airport is only
> 4-5
> >> miles away from downtown, so our clients might include people that are
> not
> >> travelling or waiting for someone, but actually went to the airport
> just
> >> to
> >> use the cybercafe (where it's going to be easier and cheaper to park
> than
> >> downtown).
> >>
> >> Back to the cafe: the flight information board is very important, of
> >> course!
> >> We also intend to have a price policy similar to easyEverything in
> order
> >> to
> >> attract clients out of peak hours. I'm pretty sure that a large TV
> with
> >> CNN/ESPN and a lounge atmosfere might also attract unwired passengers
> who
> >> just want to rest, have a coffee and wait for their flights. We're
> also
> >> trying to negotiate with airlines in order to give 15 or 30 minutes
> free
> >> for
> >> business class passengers ('cos the money they spend on food,
> beverage,
> >> magazines and additional services will probably pay for it) and
> discounts
> >> for coach passengers if a flight is delayed or something like that.
> >> Network
> >> connections will also be available if you bring your own laptop.
> > >
> >> My problem: How to estimate the number of terminals that I'll need? Is
> it
> >> reasonable to estimate the number of clients based on the number of
> >> passengers per day? What percentage should I use? What is the
> percentage
> >> of
> >> people flying with laptops? How much time should I consider as the
> average
> >> that a client will spend at the cafe? (the answer for this will
> probably
> >> be
> >> much lower than in a regular cybercafe) 1 hour?
> >>
> >> I'm asking these questions because I have to write a solid business
> plan
> >> in
> >> order to raise some capital. If any one of you have experience with
> >> airport
> >> cybercafes or have any idea about where I'd find those statistics that
> >> would
> >> be really great!
> >>
> >> Thanks a lot!!!
> >>
> >> Rodrigo.
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> **********Footer message for &LIST mailing list***********
> >> To unsubscribe from cybercafe, send mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> >> (NOT to the list itself .. cybercafe@....). In that e-mail type:
> >> unsubscribe cybercafe <your e-mail address (optional)>
> >> end
> >> for details: <http://www.owt.com/users/jlewis/unsub_faq.html>
> >
> >
> >**********Footer message for &LIST mailing list***********
> >To unsubscribe from cybercafe, send mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> >(NOT to the list itself .. cybercafe@....). In that e-mail type:
> > unsubscribe cybercafe <your e-mail address (optional)>
> > end
> >for details: <http://www.owt.com/users/jlewis/unsub_faq.html>
>
>
>
> **********Footer message for &LIST mailing list***********
> To unsubscribe from cybercafe, send mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> (NOT to the list itself .. cybercafe@....). In that e-mail type:
> unsubscribe cybercafe <your e-mail address (optional)>
> end
> for details: <http://www.owt.com/users/jlewis/unsub_faq.html>
**********Footer message for &LIST mailing list***********
To unsubscribe from cybercafe, send mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
(NOT to the list itself .. cybercafe@....). In that e-mail type:
unsubscribe cybercafe <your e-mail address (optional)>
end
for details: <http://www.owt.com/users/jlewis/unsub_faq.html>
