When people visit Oklahoma City, Plenty Mercantile is one of the go-to spots for gifts and souvenirs. The brightly colored store is known for its original finds, sustainable fits and a warm, hospitable atmosphere.
Co-owner Brittney Matlock opened the store with the help of her mother and co-owner, Traci Walton, in 2012, in hopes of providing thoughtfully made and affordable gifts to the community. The store has even achieved B Corp Certification status, recognizing that it meets high standards for both social and environmental impact with its merchandise.
“We vet all of our products. They are not perfect, but they have to meet our purchasing principles. Our sustainability is a common thread through everything that we do,” Walton explains.
Plenty Mercantile’s airport store features neatly organized grab-and-go food and drinks for travelers.
Over the years, Walton and Matlock often wondered what it might be like to bring the Plenty Mercantile brand to an airport. This idea started to become a reality when Oklahoma City Council approached Plenty Mercantile on partnering as a retail concessionaire with the OKC Will Rogers International Airport in 2019.
“Our mayor and our city council wanted there to be some local representation and some local presence, so when you land at the airport, you get a taste of the actual city,” says Matlock.
Intrigued by the opportunity, Matlock says she and her mom agreed to form a concessionaire partnership with the OKC Will Rogers International Airport.
From idea to reality
Presenting a proposal and later developing an airport store proved to be a learning experience for Plenty Mercantile.
“It was a much more involved situation and process than we ever realized,” says Matlock.
The Oklahoma City retailer partnered with Paradies Lagardère, a large Georgia-based travel retailer, to bring Plenty Mercantile to the Will Rogers International Airport. Through the partnership, Paradies Lagardère manages the buying and day-to-day operations of the airport store, while Plenty Mercantile governs the brand and influences some of the buying decisions.
Plenty Mercantile presented its retail plan to the Oklahoma City Airport Trust on March 13, 2020. That same week, COVID-19 was declared a public health emergency and much of the U.S. went into lockdown. Once air travel reached more normal levels, Plenty Mercantile and Paradies Lagardère went back to planning for the new airport store. By 2023, the new store debuted and has helped to bring OKC gifts and souvenirs to travelers from all over the world.
As a woman-owned business, Plenty Mercantile also qualified as an Airport Concession Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (ACDBE), which helps retailers in the contracting process and in operations. The U.S. Department of Transportation recognized Plenty Mercantile as an ACDBE vendor, which Matlock says has been very beneficial and ensures that the company receives a portion of all airport concessions profits.
Matlock says the partnership with both Paradies Lagardère and the OKC Will Rogers International Airport has been an eye-opening experience for her these past few years.
“We’re not used to corporate timelines on things, but it’s cool to see how they do things,” she shares, adding that giving up some control of the day-to-day operations to Paradies Lagardère has been a helpful exercise for her. “It’s helped me release a lot of control I didn’t realize I could. Letting that happen has been maturing for me. And it’s not like you open and only get one shot — we have a 10-year contract. There’s opportunity to make things better.”
Similar but different
Plenty Mercantile’s airport store has a similar look and feel to its flagship streetside store — the same golden logo and whimsical graphics along with displays of thoughtfully curated products — but the product mix is a little different.
“We wouldn’t carry neck pillows streetside, but the airport store has those,” she explains, adding that the airport store has some contractual requirements to follow.
Half of the airport store is stocked with travel essentials, and the other half is full of gifts and souvenirs that can be found at Plenty Mercantile’s streetside store. The travel essentials side features a large snack and to-go drink selection, and a wall full of books and magazines for travelers to take on their flights.
The other side of the store looks a lot like Plenty Mercantile’s flagship store, with name-drop caps and tees, souvenir mugs and OKC stickers. There are also local and sustainable brands that align with the store’s mission, such as Oliver Fragrance Co., which is a local maker of candles and roll-on fragrances.
Even though Plenty Mercantile isn’t doing the buying for the airport store, Matlock says she and Walton help to connect Paradies Lagardère with reputable brands they want featured in the airport store.
Steady opportunities
In hindsight, Matlock says she is grateful that Plenty Mercantile took the risk to partner with Paradies Lagardère to open a store at the OKC Will Rogers International Airport in 2023. On top of providing additional revenue, it directs some airport travelers to the flagship store while they are in town. Matlock says it also helps small local vendors like Oliver Fragrance Co. get their brand out there to a wider range of customers.
“If you get the opportunity, do it,” she advises other destination retailers.
But, she adds, retailers need to be prepared to relinquish some control if they want to expand their brand into an airport store.
“You have to adjust your expectations,” she says, noting that these kinds of stores often involve a variety of partnerships with the airport and concessionaire operators. “You are now in a partnership and not in ultimate control. That can feel scary to independent operators, but it can be great. Utilize these partners’ resources. Understand that the store can’t be exactly like you want it, but it can be close and that’s great.”
Plenty Mercantile is in the middle of a 10-year contract with OKC Will Rogers International Airport. Matlock says she is currently planning to renew that once the contract expires.
“If you negotiate correctly, this is like passive income for a certain amount of time,” she says.
Bringing the Plenty Mercantile brand to a wider audience has been encouraging to Matlock and Walton, too.
“What an honor it is to be one of the first places people see when they come to the city and one of the last things they see when they leave,” she says. “It’s a very cool way to be involved in your city.”
