Creativity in Airports
Sitting in an aiport is one of my least favorite things to do. People are crabby, the seats are uncomfortable in both the terminals and the planes and the internet isn’t free. (You would think with the increasing cost of flights and the decrease in the ease of flying they might be willing to give us free internet, but that’s a whole differerent can of worms!)… Although as my mother points out, “It’s better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick!”. Why yes mom, it is…but it still sucks!
Anyway, the point is I spent 13 hours in airports and airplanes yesterday and despite it being miserable, draining and boring – I had a burst of creative genius. So, that is what I decided to write about – finding creative business ideas in the most boring of places!
Since our flight was delayed 3 hours (yup…3 HOURS!) we decided to walk around and do some shopping in the Dallas/Fort Worth airport, for those of you who have never flown through it, it is one of the largest airports and has just about everything (but still…no free internet! hint*hint*). Some stores made sense – magazines, souvenirs, and clothing. Some didn’t. The one that caught my eye was a Luggage store. Luggage? Really? Who buys luggage in an airport? You would think if they were in the airport, they would already have the luggage…so of course, it got me thinking!
It goes against all common logic that a luggage store would work in an airport. But – it is the creative genius who is able to see past the logic and try something different. When looked at creatively – it actually makes a lot of sense to have a luggage store in an airport.
First, You are surrounding yourself with the ideal customer: Most stores fail because they can’t get enough of the right buyers in the door. A luggage store needs people who travel and use luggage – where better to be than in the middle of people who travel? With a luggage store in the airport, your ideal buyer is everywhere. And second, you fulfil immediate and future needs: Imagine getting to the airport and the seams that have been holding your bag together for the last year of flying finally breaks. What would you do? Ta-dah – Luggage store to the rescue! Or, your luggage doesn’t break but you’re bored, walking around shopping, knowing you need knew luggage? How better to compare luggage than have your old stuff next to new stuff? Stores place themselves where the greatest gathering of their product would be used or needed. Luggage in an airport – a simple equation!
All it really takes is thinking outside of the box to make this type of business work. Are there other products and places that a similar strategy may be applied? or Have you seen another case like this?
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- http://www.stickyfigure.com Steve Woodruff