Owner Steve Cosgrove calls his Employee Store at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport a slice of “avgeek heaven.”
The shop, tucked away in Terminal C, Gate C2, is stocked to the rafters with shirts, hoodies, sweatshirts, hats, beanies, coffee mugs, coasters, aircraft models, and almost every other conceivable form of merchandise, most bearing the licensed insignia of airlines that serve or have served Dallas/Fort Worth. American Airlines, the exclusive operator at Terminal C, tends to predominate, but other carriers, past and present, are mixed in, including Pan Am, TWA, and Braniff, giving some products a decidedly retro flavor.
The store also sells essentials aimed at airport and airline employees, including badgeholders, socks, hosiery, and shoes. The store’s hours of operation – 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., every day, including holidays – gel with workers’ sometimes chaotic schedules, and picking up necessities there has become a ritual for veterans and a rite of passage for trainees.
Cosgrove said some crew will fly into DFW specifically to shop at his store, and the pride in his voice is unmistakable when he describes selling socks to a ramp worker doused by heavy, cold rain, and hosiery to a gate agent who needed a quick replacement after her own were ripped.
American-branded shirts at the Employee Store. (Photo: Steve Cosgrove)
In its 14 years in business, the store has only been closed twice – once when Cosgrove was away on a trip and didn’t realize his employees were out sick, and again last Christmas, due to family commitments. So it’s coming as a shock to many loyal customers and friends that, by the end of the month, the Employee Store will be gone, possibly for good.
Nowhere Left to Go
Terminal C is set to undergo renovations starting this summer, and businesses there must be closed and out by June 1.
Cosgrove said he was talking with American about a new location, but the airline “went quiet.” He said he was told by an American official that space at the airport is too expensive for a store like his, and for that reason it “wouldn’t be moved anywhere.”
There are other areas in the airport where the store could potentially land, but so far nothing has been solidified.
Aircraft models for sale. (Photo: Steve Cosgrove)
“I don’t need prime real estate, I can take something under an escalator, the employees will find me,” Cosgrove said. “I need low rent so I can keep the prices low for the airport and airline employees.”
American did not respond to AirlineGeeks’ inquiry about the Employee Store before press time. The airport referred questions to the store’s owner.
Cosgrove noted that, due to the recent shutdown of Spirit, there is now free space in Terminal E, but he is not sure how that property will be handled during the former carrier’s liquidation.
The Employee Store sells branded merchandise from a variety of airlines, past and present. (Photo: Steve Cosgrove)
Looking Forward, Looking Back
While the Employee Store will lose its physical footprint later this month, shoppers will still be able to buy merchandise online through the business’ website. Customers can have their order shipped, or pick it up at the store’s warehouse in Grapevine, Texas.
But something significant will still be lost, he noted. The store currently employs six part-time workers, all retirees from American. And the thousands of routine in-person connections, from a simple sale to long conversations with visitors and aviation enthusiasts, will come to an end.
“I enjoy working out there, I enjoy talking to people,” Cosgrove said. “I like hearing their stories. I’ve heard some fascinating ones.”
At least some of the Employee Store’s supporters are not dropping the issue quietly. The shop raised money for TSA workers during the partial government shutdown earlier this year, and in gratitude, staff are writing letters asking to keep the outlet at DFW. Cosgrove said he’s touched by the campaign and appreciates the support, even if the Employee Store ultimately fails to find a new permanent home.
Hats for sale at the Employee Store. (Photo: Steve Cosgrove)
Cosgrove formerly worked for the original Frontier Airlines, first as a flight attendant, then in crew scheduling, and later in public relations. He loved the work, he said, but “couldn’t deal with the management.”
“I can relate to a lot of the customers,” he said. “Been there, done that, got the T-shirt.”
He worries that when the store shuts down, airline and airport employees will be left without an important and comforting support system.
“The ability to do all that, be of help to the employees, is going to go away,” Cosgrove said. “I don’t think American is looking at the value of that.”
A display at the Employee Store. (Photo: Steve Cosgrove)
According to a recent post on the Employee Store’s Facebook page, the store will remain open with extended hours, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., up to May 26, its “final” day in business.
