Re: National Park Service Awards Concessions Contract to DNC Parks and Resorts at Grand Canyon, Inc.

Grand Canyon, Ariz. – The National Park Service has selected DNC Parks & Resorts at Grand Canyon, Inc., a subsidiary of Delaware North Companies, Inc., to provide a variety of visitor services at Grand Canyon National Park for the next 15 years. This is one of two concessions contracts that are expected to be awarded this year.

The new park concessions contract is anticipated to begin January 2015 and includes grocery, food service and retail stores at the Grand Canyon Village Market; lodging, retail and food services at Yavapai Lodge; retail, food services, grocery and a service station at Desert View; operation of the public laundromat and showers known as Camper Services; and operation of the Trailer Village RV campground.

Lodging, retail and food services at Yavapai, the service station, Camper Services and Trailer Village RV campground are operations that are currently provided under a concessions contract held by Xanterra South Rim, L.L.C.

Park Superintendent Dave Uberuaga said, “Delaware North Companies has successfully operated the Grand Canyon Village Market providing grocery, food service and retail operations to park visitors and the Grand Canyon Community for 15 years.” Uberuaga added that he and park staff look forward to a continued working relationship with Delaware North Companies. “I know they will continue to provide excellent service to park visitors and the community as they take on additional responsibilities under this new expanded contract.”

The new contract includes a minimum franchise fee of 9.4 percent of gross receipts that will be returned to the government each year. The contract also includes a number of updates to services, including improvements at Yavapai Lodge, Trailer Village RV Park and Desert View. Historic revenues from the services to be provided under the new contract have averaged approximately $30 million per year.

Delaware North Companies provides a variety of visitor services in over 200 locations globally and in several U.S. national parks, including Yosemite, Yellowstone, Sequoia & Kings Canyon, Olympic, Shenandoah and Blue Ridge Parkway.

The competitive process for the concessions contract was initiated on August 6, 2013 with the release of a prospectus. All offers had to be submitted to the agency by November 25, 2013. An evaluation panel of National Park Service and technical experts outside Grand Canyon National Park performed a comprehensive analysis of the proposals and selected the best responsive proposal based on factors identified in the prospectus. For more information about the prospectus and concessions contracts in the National Park Service visit http://www.concessions.nps.gov/news.htm.

So I can presume I can face another pricing anomaly in their (TM) stores, whereby a bag of lettuce shoots up by $4 in a matter of two days.