Mentoring New York-Based Entrepreneurs
Love From USA Group, a 100% woman-owned and ACDBE-certified retailer with over 45 years of industry expertise and 26+ innovative retail concepts, is proud to champion local entrepreneurship at the new world-class Terminal One at JFK.
At Love From USA, every concept we create reflects our tagline: Love Local Like We Do. We celebrate local culture through curated, locally made and inspired merchandise, all within a visually engaging retail environment. Our values closely align with the New Terminal One’s “Love Local” vision. We are honored to be selected to introduce seven new concepts to this groundbreaking terminal at John F. Kennedy International Airport.
As a proud participant in the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey’s inaugural Institute of Concessions program, we mentored New York-based Local Business Enterprises. Founder and CEO, Patricia Chinander eagerly guided these business owners through the entire airport Request for Proposal (RFP) process—from concept ideation to submission, and now, into concept buildout.
- Rincon Salvadoreño – Elena Calderon
- Brooklyn Blend – Keishon Warren
- Beautiful Amore – Amerrah Brown
Together with WHSmith, a global leader in travel retail, and these recent IOC graduates, we’ve built a forward-thinking collaboration that celebrates both local flavor and retail excellence. We are thrilled to be part of the world class New Terminal One and look forward to welcoming travelers with a fresh, locally curated experience.
RINCON SALVADORENO RESTAURANT
Rincon Salvadoreno Restaurant offers a traditional dining experience as well as affordable catering services for all occasions, from small dinner events to large parties. The first Salvadoran restaurant to open in New York, they have been promoting fresh ideas and innovative dishes since 1980. Rincon Salvadoreno Restaurant is a family-run operation in the Jamaica, Queens, neighborhood for more than 40 years. They are entrenched in the community and committed to serving its residents and businesses. Owner Elena Barcenes also operated Cafe Energy, a cafe with quick service and grab-and-go options, from 2010-2021, serving 475 meals daily.
BROOKLYN BLEND
Since January 2016, Brooklyn Blend has been a staple Black-owned juice bar and health food restaurant in the Brooklyn community, known for providing healthy smoothies, shakes, nutritious food, and fresh juices from our juice bar. They are passionate about inspiring and encouraging a wellness-focused lifestyle, especially within communities that are underserved and overlooked. What began as a way to assist the owners parents throughout their retirement, evolved into a desire to positively impact their culture for generations to come. As a Black-owned business, they strive to support their community’s growth by serving as an example of success and resilience. Brooklyn Blend’s mission is to serve their community nutrition with kindness.
BEAUTIFUL AMORE SKIN CARE
Beautiful Amore Skin Care makes plant based personal care products for people who are looking to move away from animal ingredients, toxic chemicals and companies who test their products on animals. Their extensive product line consists of Vegan soaps, body butter, face treatments, shampoo, conditioner, face scrub, body scrub, natural deodorant, aromatherapy and feminine personal care. Extreme dry skin, dark circles and acne seemed to affect all of their family and friends. That’s why they decided to share their skin care products with the world. They make a variety of products that can help ease the symptoms of eczema and maintain healthy skin. They want you to feel your best everyday with their vegan skincare & personal hygiene products.
Together, Love From USA and these Local Business Enterprises have weekly calls discuss the evaluation of opportunities (RFPs), design, build out, and opening activities, operations, product development, inventory management, staffing and human resources competencies, financial modeling and analyses, and problem solving.