Case Studies
From Small
Time to the
Big Leagues
How a growing company meets growing expectations
Services Provided
Stellar Partners
Stellar Partners started out with one duty-free store and grew into a formidable competitor in the airport retail industry. At the time of our engagement, Stellar operated more than 177 stores across 21 major U.S. airports, partnering with some of the most famous and beloved brands such as TUMI, Swarovski, and Ron Jon Surf Shop. Stellar Partners was acquired by HMSHost in 2019 and later became part of the global organization now known as Avolta, alongside Hudson and HMSHost.
The Challenge
What’s at Stake: Million-Dollar Contracts
Securing a retail space within an airport terminal requires Stellar to compete against some of the biggest names in airport retail. They must sell their envisioned retail concept to airport evaluation committees who have exacting standards and no time to waste on improperly formatted documents. These pursuits are massive undertakings, requiring 100s of pages, 2–15+ concepts, rigorous procurement requirements, and input from departments across the organization—all moving toward one immovable deadline.
Despite having competed for and won numerous contracts in the past, Stellar was now faced with the need to reinvent its pursuit process from the ground up.
It’s not easy to change habits that have been developed over 30 years. As Stellar grew, what was expected of them grew as well. The old standby designs that worked in the past just wouldn’t cut it anymore; Stellar needed to revive its creative side and start competing like a big-league player and win the big contracts.
As the agency of choice for parent company HMSHost, Diace Designs was the first team Stellar turned to for help. Diace Designs’ track record of success with HMSHost was exactly what Stellar needed to completely rethink the strategy, creative direction, design, and production behind its airport pursuits.
The Success
Highlights: Award-Winning Projects | Deadline Met During an Active Hurricane
With only four weeks to create a comprehensive package for the world’s busiest passenger airport, Diace Designs hit the ground running. Coming in as an auxiliary team with high-level experience, Diace Designs guided Stellar through the growing pains of a small business gone BIG, producing 50+ custom deliverables and the company’s largest proposal to date.
Then Mother Nature joined the pursuit.
As the final custom deliverables were being produced in upstate New York, an active hurricane was bearing down on Florida – their intended destination. The international airport pursuit wasn’t affected, so the deadline wasn’t moving. Neither were we!
The Diace Designs team put on its logistics hat and pivoted, rerouting the custom deliverables to an alternate location – out of the storm’s path without interrupting delivery and still on schedule. Deadline met!
The success went far beyond one pursuit. Diace Designs helped reposition Stellar for future opportunities, reimagining how the company competed and presented itself as a serious player in airport retail.
Client Raves
What Our Clients Say
"I have had the pleasure of working with Jessica and the Diace Team since 2017. They work with multi-million and billion dollar companies, however, they treat smaller companies just as well as they do their larger clients. The professionalism and dedication is next to none. I have worked directly with Jessica on several large projects; when faced with some serious deadlines she has stepped up to the plate and was always ready and willing for the challenge. She has assisted in times of need over and beyond anything that I could have asked or imagined. Jessica and the Diace Team are absolutely amazing and greatly appreciated for all of their tenacity, hard work and attention to detail on every project, no matter how large or how small."
Case Studies
