My shop @ BRU

JetB · Post by **JetB** » 15 Dec 2004, 15:54

Did you notice how little choice you have @ Brussels airport when it comes to cheap eating / fast food.

Mc Donalds, Burger King to be honest not my favorite restaurants. But not even these big multinationals are represented at Brussels Airport.

Fly to the US from the B pier and find out that the only coffee corner is open 8 weeks a year. Basically only when job students are available during the summer.

I asked Biac to rent this space at the end of the B pier, because I believe it could be very profitable selling food and beverages to Americans.

Biac was not willing to rent out this space. Biac sugested to contact Restair, who has a monopoly at Brussels Airport.

Talking about a lease / rent was impossible. Restair and Biac prefer to keep this monopoly going, even if this means not offering a basic service to their customers.

Who can give me advise ? do you think contacting the new australian management would be a solution ?
And how legal is such a monopoly ?

Post by **sn26567** » 15 Dec 2004, 18:11

It is probably not a real monopoly, but an open bidding process in which restair offered the best price for ALL the eateries of Brussels airport.

Advisor · Post by **Advisor** » 15 Dec 2004, 18:33

Well monopoly is legal as far as it is fair. Now depends on which side of the table you are sitting to decide what is fair or not.

Mostly i have observed all over the world that the airport authorities float tenders which are generally opened in favour of the person who coughs up the initial fee.

Writing to the management will not do any harm, but won't help either.

Comet · Post by **Comet** » 15 Dec 2004, 19:39

Want any fluent English-speaking staff to serve beverages to Americans?

JetB · Post by **JetB** » 16 Dec 2004, 08:27

Thanks for your reaction guy's.

I still believe in a coffee shop @ Brussels B pier, but to be honest I don't expect much from it.

How uninterested can a company be when a possible investor tries to make an appointment ?.

Biac's management is not even interested in talking, even looking at future possibilities.

Can the new australian management make a change ?, lets hope it.

Biac, a typical Belgian company, think small, stay small !.

@ Louise, your always welcome

vflies · Post by **vflies** » 30 Jan 2005, 15:07

Sorry to break in with some possible bad news for you, but a fellow Rotary member has just announced he has won/acquired the franchise rights for Starbucks in Belgium.
So expect coffee shops to multiply pretty soon.

His first planned locations are the Brussels South train station, European area and both Brussels National and Brussels South airports...
Don't know how far he actually is with that project but I believe that a heavy weight like Starbucks can make things move pretty fast...

Post by **sn26567** » 02 Feb 2005, 11:51

Starbucks is not specially known for good coffee. I hope they will improve their brand in Belgium, otherwise it might become a big failure...

JetB · Post by **JetB** » 02 Feb 2005, 14:11

Restair is opening a Leffe Pub at Brussels airport B-Pier !.

Don't think there was an open bidding process, so great job Restair keeping Brussels yours !.

So for more overpriced low quality food and bad service go to Restair.

The food area around the US Outbound area stays closed for now, still didn't hear a thing from Biac....

Anyway, why cant Louise get a job in the US area ?. Because she is working in Belgium ?
You could ask yourself the question what somebody is going to do flying to the US and not speaking English !.

To bad Louise I don't seem to get this spot at Brussels area, I would consider you if I had the chance. That is if you understand you have to sell and not drink the beer yourself.

Buzz · Post by **Buzz** » 02 Feb 2005, 15:39

JetB wrote:Anyway, why cant Louise get a job in the US area ?. Because she is working in Belgium ?
You could ask yourself the question what somebody is going to do flying to the US and not speaking English !.

Because people in Belgium expect to be understood when the speak the languages spoken in Belgium in a Belgian shop?
With that attitude I wouldn't start up a bussiness if I were you! It's your job to make money & serve people in a way they want to be served, not in a way you think they should be served!

Comet · Post by **Comet** » 02 Feb 2005, 15:47

I am more than capable of learning Dutch and French, even though I am older than 25 my brain still works and I am capable! Do not start me off about this because it will really get my temper up because I am bloody sick and tired of the attitude that only bimbos out of school are capable of learning new skills.

And to be honest, even though some of the people who work in the shops at BRU claim to know English, they have very poor command of the language in some cases, and that is one advantage I would have over them.

And we English are always accused of being bloody racist if we expect foreigners who choose to live in our country to learn our language. If someone moves to a country which speaks a different language then they have a duty to learn the local language.

And yes - even though I am older than 25, I am still capable of stringing a sentence together!

JetB · Post by **JetB** » 02 Feb 2005, 15:51

Let it go Louise, Buzz is just against everything I post here !.

It is that Ryanair thing between us, remember ?.

Kinda strange he likes an airline that doenst know s*** if it comes to customer service. Posting a statement like he just did !.

Sabena_690 · Post by **Sabena_690** » 02 Feb 2005, 19:27

Didn't the Australians announce that they want to increase the revenues of shops and other activities that have nothing to do with aviation itself?

I read an article about this in De TIJD about 1-2 weeks ago.

They compared the revenues of BIAC in this part with those of for example the BAA in the UK, and there was a huge difference.

Frederic

Humberside · Post by **Humberside** » 02 Feb 2005, 19:37

Good luck with the coffee shop idea

JetB · Post by **JetB** » 03 Feb 2005, 08:31

B-Pier US Outbound area has only one shop and it is busy in the morning, even before the US company's arrive !.

New BIAC management ! yes, but try to talk to them.....

SN30952 · Post by **SN30952** » 03 Feb 2005, 08:51

JetB why not see Black Canyon?

ual777lover · Post by **ual777lover** » 05 Feb 2005, 20:43

It's about time we get more than Wingtips-the never open posh restaurant- and a small coffee stand in B-pier...

Wingtips is great, don't get me wrong but the FOOD SUCKED!!! I guess the views made up for it.

Starbucks has been on the table for years. When I moved back to Waterloo in 2000, it was said it would come a year later.. I've been out of BRU for 2 years and still no Starbucks? Sure, it's not the typical Belgian quality, but when you're just waiting for a flight Starbucks is fine. If it's soo bad, howcome there are what seems to be over a thousand in JUST London.. Even got one underneath the frickin Tower Bridge

.

vflies · Post by **vflies** » 06 Apr 2005, 16:09

I think so too, ual777lover. Once you've figured out what to order and how to ask for it, Starbucks is a nice coffeeshop experience (and always with a free hotspot)...