Concord Collective Partners and Enjoy Repeat founder Greg Plummer has always been drawn to the restaurant business. Growing up in Detroit, a 15-year-old Plummer’s first job was working at a local restaurant as “everything from a dishwasher to a busboy – you name it, and I did it,” says Plummer. “I loved the energy and the spirit of hospitality.”
After a year at financial firm Morgan Stanley, Plummer made the jump to airport concessions, working as an assistant manager with Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) ACDBE concessionaire CMS Hospitality. “I instantly fell in love with the airport, with understanding how a small business worked and with the concessions the community at LAX, and that was 20 years ago today,” says Plummer. “It wasn’t all glamorous, [but] it was fascinating to interact with different people from around the world every day, and [learn to] problem solve. I found myself back where I belong working with people in hospitality.”
After 12 years with CMS, Plummer found himself at a crossroads as Daniels prepared to retire. When CMS sold the business to HMSHost, “it was a whirlwind,” says Plummer. “I took two weeks off and thought long and hard about what I wanted to do [next]. And I realized that I really wanted to be an entrepreneur.” Plummer founded his own hospitality company, Enjoy Repeat, in 2016, “and my original strategy was to focus on becoming a joint venture partner with a prime company,” he says. “At the time, a lot of the primes had their preferred partners at LAX. I was approached by a friend of mine from SSP America, who gave me an opportunity.”
Enjoy Repeat became a part of a successful 2017 bid for spots in LAX’s Terminal 1. In working with SSP America, Plummer got an even more granular experience managing the ups and downs of concessions at one of the world’s busiest airports and found his time at CMS had served him well.
“I worked for a guy who gave me a lot of autonomy to learn, so I knew I had what it takes to go for it. I believed I could actually be a partner who added tremendous value,” says Plummer.
The Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent travel shutdown tested his meddle. Plummer found himself consulting with various concessions companies. “I got a call from the same friend who worked at SSP who said, ‘We’re interested in selling [SSP’s LAX business].’ I immediately started thinking about it and said: ‘Sell it to me — I’m already here,’” says Plummer.
SSP agreed, but Plummer had another challenge ahead: raising funds. “Imagine raising money to buy an airport contract in the midst of the devastation caused by Covid,” laughs Plummer. “It was a very difficult lift.”
To do so, Plummer gathered a group of fellow ACDBE concessionaires across the country to form an investor partnership now known as Concord Collective and became the first 100% minority-owned small business to take over eight locations at LAX from a prime concessionaire.
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