Bruegger's plans to land in more airports this year. Despite the complications, the Burlington, Vt.-based company is aggressively pursuing airport locations, contending that the 290-unit bakery-cafe concept's healthful, portable items fill a need in airport dining.

“Traveling through airports myself and not finding a good choice for breakfast and only slightly better at lunchtime was what prompted me [to open units in airports],” says CEO James Greco.

Because airport foodservice is managed by the airports or foodservice management contractors, Bruegger’s must maintain good relationships with them so they will invite the chain to bid for sites as they become available.

Bruegger's opened airport units in the Cincinnati/North Kentucky International Airport in 2007 and Boston's Logan International Airport and Raleigh-Durham International Airport in North Carolina in 2008.

According to Greco, the volumes for the Cincinnati/North Kentucky and Raleigh-Durham units are tracking higher than those of a traditional Bruegger's, which has average sales of $710,000 per unit. However, the unit in the Boston airport is generating lower volumes than a traditional store. Greco blames its location prior to the security gate; he says customers usually want to pass through the security first before they purchase food.

That's why future units will be located post-security. They will also be situated in the center of the concourse, rather than at the end.

Getting these units off the ground isn't easy. It takes more time and money to open an airport store because contractors and their supplies must pass strict security clearance. In addition, most airports are situated in remote areas, far from the nearest metro city. So contractors as well as store employees must travel further to get to the store. “It can be a little bit challenging to find people who want to drive out to an airport every day to go to work,” Greco says.

As result, a Bruegger's airport unit, which is about 1,200 square feet, costs about $400,000—the same for a traditional 2,200-square-foot store. A traditional unit takes 60 to 90 days to open, while Bruegger's spends 90 to 120 days to build out an airport location.

Despite these challenges, Bruegger's will be opening more airport locations in 2009. Out of the 24 units it will open this year, at least one will be an airport store. The company has submitted bids for six airport locations, but Greco won't say where they are located.

“It's a hard segment to break into,” he says. “But now we've got some momentum with these sites that we've got open already. So we hope to be able to grow quickly over the coming year.”