Ontario, Canada-based The Firkin Group of Pubs has opened Firkin & Fox British-style pub at Washington Dulles International’s (IAD) Terminal A and has signed a deal to open what it expects will be a flagship location at Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall (BWI).
The recently opened pub is the company’s second at IAD. It will be “more funky and cool looking” as part of a conceptual redesign aimed at broadening the concept’s appeal to women, says Larry Isaacs, director of marketing.
Previously, the pubs had red velvet booths and dark furniture and were more reminiscent of a “man cave” but now they’ll be more eclectic, brighter and more female friendly, he says.
The Dulles locations are in the neighborhood of 1,400 to 1,500 square feet. The BWI location will be 4,700 square feet. About 3,700 of that will be a pub; the remaining 1,000 feet will be across the corridor, where the company will have a lounge with seating and other amenities aimed to make travelers feel “just like you are in your living room at home,” Isaacs says.
The company hopes that location, which will be its flagship in airports, will open by year’s end.
The pubs, Isaacs says, aim to give passengers a chance to feel as though they have at least temporarily left the stressful nature of airports while they enjoy a meal or a drink. Each location is adapted to the specific market and the needs of the airport.
“We try to make it a home away from home,” he says.
