Not all of the shops and restaurants planned for the Atlanta airport’s new international terminal will be ready in time for the opening next month, despite efforts to avoid such an outcome.
Among concessions the airport expects won’t be ready are the terminal’s showpiece restaurant, Ecco, along with the airport’s first common-use lounge and new sleep units and spa services.
Also not opening until later are Lorena Garcia Tapas Bar, Maison Mathis/illy/Stella Artois, Jekyll Island Seafood Co. and MAC Cosmetics. A total of 8 out of 27 concessions won’t be ready.
“We knew we couldn’t get them all open in time,” said airport general manager Louis Miller.
The Maynard H. Jackson International Terminal is scheduled to open May 16.
Airport officials say more than 20 stores, restaurants and other services will be operating, enough for the opening. Others will open in subsequent weeks or months.
Also, a planned Yeah! Burger will not open, and will be replaced by The Varsity at the international terminal. The Varsity was already approved for a different location at the airport under HMSHost, which operates the brand under license.
Restaurants to be open for the debut are The Pecan, The Original El Taco and Pei Wei Asian Diner, French Meadow Bakery and Sweet Auburn Market Café. Shops to open on the first day include Kiehl’s, Tommy Hilfiger, duty-free shops and other stores, along with an interfaith chapel and vending machines.
Most of the restaurants and shops in the international terminal are in the post-security area such as the mezzanine and Concourse F, the terminal’s gate complex.
The selection process for concessions for the new terminal and other Hartsfield-Jackson spaces was lengthy and contentious. Some losing companies sought an injunction to block restaurant deals. That request was denied in mid-March.
Restaurant contracts are still being challenged through an administrative appeals process.
Airport officials first began considering the need to choose concessions for the new terminal years ago -- before Miller took over as general manager in late 2010.
The city put out its official solicitation in March 2011, then pushed back the deadline for proposals to late July. In September the city threw out all of the proposals, saying too many missed required documents, and restarted the process.
The city acknowledged then that the terminal may open with only some concessions completed.
Winning concessionaires were announced in December, but the decisions faced legal challenges from January through March.
Some contracts for other services have not yet been finalized. They include currency exchange operations, on which the city reversed itself on a contract after a protest pointed out flaws in the decision.
