Charlotte City Council extends Paradies airport retail contract

The Charlotte City Council has extended the retail contract with Paradies Shops LLC to manage stores inside Charlotte Douglas International Airport terminal.

The original contract, awarded in 2010, was set to expire in 2017. But council members voted in early December to grant Paradies a five-year extension that will keep it in Charlotte Douglas through 2022.

The city extended the contract because it is expanding two parts of the airports main terminal. The expansion will include new retail and restaurant space, including two new retail stores in the west terminal expansion and five new stores in an east terminal expansion.

Paradies also will operate those stores. The City Council said it will require a significant investment by Paradies.

Construction on a three-story, $10.5 million terminal expansion of the west side of the terminal started in 2013. The project is scheduled to be finished in early 2015. The new stores will total 2,650 square feet. The expansion will connect Security Checkpoint A with Concourse B.

The $9 million east-side terminal expansion started design work last spring. The two-story, 32,000-square-foot expansion will create a new food court and 2,700 square feet of retail space.

The airport also is planning a $32 million renovation of the terminal and concourses in 2015.

Atlanta-based Paradies today operates stores in Charlotte such as Lacoste, EA Sports and Brooks Brothers.

Terry Wimpy, the Paradies general manager for Charlotte, said the company doesnt have any firm commitments yet for the new space.

He said the new stores would likely be a combination of news and gifts and some nationally branded stores.

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Charlotte City Council extends Paradies airport retail contract