Sticky Situation: Gum Ban Ends at Fla. Airport

June 24, 2009— -- As more than one person has wisecracked, you can finally walk and chew gum at the same time at Palm Beach International Airport in Florida.

County commissioners had banned chewing gum sales at the airport for 20 years, ever since a new terminal was opened in 1988. A past airport director called it "a maintenance nightmare" to keep used gum from ruining carpets and furniture.

On the other hand, chewing gum can mean big money at a small terminal. Paradies Shops, the chain that runs concession stands at Palm Beach and many other airports, estimated that it could make an extra $225,000 a year if gum sales were allowed there, and that the county would get an extra $50,000 in revenue.

In tough times, money talks. The county commissioners lifted the ban last week.

"Paradies came to the airport and asked that they be allowed to sell gum," said Cassandra Davis of the Palm Beach County Department of Airports. "They had asked several times in the past, and this time the commissioners said yes."

This is one of those sticky little issues that people don't think much about, except when they want a piece of gum. Or find someone else's on the bottom of their shoe.

Private Pleasure vs. Public Nuisance

In some places it's a bigger issue. Singapore, for instance, has banned the import or sale of chewing gum since the 1980s; theirs is a famously regimented -- but clean -- society. Under pressure from U.S. trade negotiators in 2003, they modified the ban to allow gum sold for medicinal purposes, such as to protect tooth enamel.

Many American hotels ban chewing gum sales at their lobby gift shops. Walt Disney is said to have hated the mess gum created, and you won't find any at Disney resorts (Disney is the parent company of ABC News).

But banning gum sales at airports? Several concessionaires never heard of it.

"They really banned gum in Palm Beach?" asked an executive at a vending chain in the northeastern U.S. who asked not to be named. "Huh!"

Airport managers have other things to think about, from security to traffic to tight budgets. Paradies' local manager in Palm Beach had been persistent about asking the county to let his staff sell gum at a time when airports are worried about shrinking traffic because of the economy.

Something to Chew On

Palm Beach International, said a person posting on the discussion site Topix.com, "is one of the dumpiest airports I've ever flown into, and they're concerned with gum? I don't get it."

Another person wrote, "If there is more gum, there will be more mess. More mess = more jobs! More jobs are good!"

Cleanup Crews Ready

Airport cleanup crews were at the ready, with a gum-freezing solution to make it easier to clean up sticky wads. County commissioners can reinstate the ban if the airport gets too (oh, how to put this gummed up.

But Paradies, which says it sold more than $900,000 worth of gum at the Fort Lauderdale airport last year, said it's simply giving people what they want. Chewing gum is a consistent seller, in good times or lean.

"For us, it's a service issue," said Bobbi Passavanti of Paradies Shops, which has more than 500 shops and stands in 70 airports and hotels around the country. "A lot of people ask for gum."