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Tag: Lagardère Travel Retail

  • Japan strongest market for Furla Asia

    Japan strongest market for Furla Asia

    Italian luxury leathergoods brand Furla has reported a 38 per cent increase in travel-retail sales for its first half, with Japan being its strongest market.

    Furla has 223 travel-retail points of sales in 52 countries, the latest openings for Furla Asia including Singapore’s Changi Airport with Lagardere Travel Retail.

    Following record results last year in terms of sales and profitability, the Furla Group overall has continued growth in its latest first half with sales of €194 million (US$217 million) up 28 per cent from the figures for the same half last year.

    The group has 425 mono-brand stores, up from 415 at the end of last year. Counting multi-brands and department stores, the group is present in more than 1200 other locations worldwide, and has its products in more than 100 countries.

    Furla Group’s latest mono-brand store openings include Citic Mall in Shanghai and Mira Mall in Hong Kong.

    Japan remains its strongest market, representing 26 per cent of total sales in the half, with a 30 per cent increase. Furla Asia/Pacific sales rose 22 per cent, equal to almost 20 per cent of the total sales for the group.

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  • New Fashion Gallery set to open in Changi T2

    New Fashion Gallery set to open in Changi T2

    Lagardère Travel Retail Asia Pacific COO Emmanuel de Place has confirmed that the travel retailer is to introduce ‘an exciting new version’ of its successful Fashion Gallery retail concept in Singapore Changi Airport Terminal 2 this month, as it also eyes the upcoming MTR duty free contract in Hong Kong.

    He says the Changi Airport Fashion Gallery initiative – still to be unveiled – is just one of many ongoing retail developments across several Asia locations this year, as LTR continues to update its growing fashion offer in the region, alongside its duty free, travel essentials and foodservice businesses.

    In an interview, Emmanuel de Place said he is convinced that Asia will continue to progress over the next five years: “The market will definitely continue to grow thanks to the passenger growth and all of these emerging countries in Asia gaining maturity and building more and more passengers,” he said.

    “So we definitely want to take a share of that at Lagardère Travel Retail, as we have over the past few years.”

    GROWTH POTENTIAL IS THERE

    Whether Asia will grow in proportion with the rest of the company’s business remains to be seen, but de Place certainly believes it is possible: “It may well, because certainly Asian countries are growing faster than any other region and especially when we look at China.

    “The potential of travel retail growth there is definitely enormous, even though there have been some questions in the last few years about that high-end luxury segment of this travel retail market.

    “But we still believe there will be some growth and definitely with our development plans across the three business lines as you know, with duty free and luxury at one end and travel essentials and foodservice.”

    web Lagardère Travel Retail's fashion stores at Shenzhen Bao'an International Airport.

    Lagardère Travel Retail’s fashion stores at Shenzhen Bao’an International Airport in China.

    MTR IS ALSO OF INTEREST

    Meanwhile, turning to Hong Kong, de Place also confirmed that LTR remains very interested in the Mass Transit Railway (MTR) Express train concession at the West Kowloon Terminus, which will ultimately connect Hong Kong with the Mainland when it is finally completed.

    He said: “When we look at the big project at the station that they are bidding in Hong Kong then definitely that would be a very nice combination of foodservice, gifts, souvenirs and a lot of specialty shops and a duty free offer. So definitely we believe that we can propose something interesting.”

    A comprehensive interview with Emmanuel de Place appears in the July print edition of The Travel Retail Business, where he talks in depth about the company’s duty free and travel retail business across the Asia Pacific region.

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  • Lagardère Travel Retail renews Relay concession at Hong Kong Airport

    Lagardère Travel Retail renews Relay concession at Hong Kong Airport

    Lagardère Travel Retail has renewed its news concession at Hong Kong International airport (HKIA) with its Relay concept, being awarded five stores in the existing and new concourses.

    This win follows soon after Lagardère Travel Retail was recently awarded the luxury fashion and souvenir stores at HKIA, with Kate Spade, Pandora, CK Platinum, and Paul & Shark, as well as three Discover Hong Kong stores. “This diversification demonstrates the group strength and capability to operate in different business lines and confirms our development strategy with HKIA” said the travel retailer.

    With the new contract, Lagardère Travel Retail will take the opportunity to launch the Relay brand’s latest global evolution and roll out its updated brand logo and store features. Relay will continue to offer to the HKIA traveller the great range of books and magazine that it has become famous for and a good range of other stationery, souvenirs & gifts.

    The retailer said Relay has been a trusted landmark at HKIA with more than a decade in operations and will “proudly continue to operate following the latest tender process”.

    The Relay stores sets itself apart through its attractive design and clear accessible zoning allowing travellers the ease to search and manoeuvre as they travel on their journey and within the different sections of offer, according to the retailer.

    Offering travellers a tailored selection of books, magazine, stationery, souvenirs & gifts to facilitate and enrich the journey, the brand’s tagline states: “Rely on RELAY: upgrade your journey”.

    Lagardère Travel Retail operates more than 1500 Relay stores within more than 120 airports and 700 train stations. The Relay brand is the global market leader within this category and continues to evolve to meet the changing needs of passengers worldwide, said the company.

    Lagardère Travel Retail general manager Louis Dambrine said: “We value our collaboration with HKIA where we have operated for 10 years. Relay renewal is a great achievement and we are ready to deliver our commitment in terms of innovative concept and operational excellence.

    “Since more than 65 million passengers will pass by our new stores every year, special attention has been placed towards creating an inviting shop front, understandable offer, visible display and coupled with an effective cashier system to ensure a seamless experience.

    “While we continue to operate Relay, we will be able to reinforce our partnerships with the airport, the brands and the distributors, supporting our common goal to develop the business to the benefit of the final consumer. We have been continually investing in order to always meet or exceed our promise on service level; the 25 service awards in 2015 alone including “Best Of The Year Customer Service Award” is a testament to our ability to deliver.

    “Moving forward, we will definitely continue to grow our business, expanding our footprint in Travel Essential as well as in Duty Free & Luxury and Food Service. We thank Hong Kong International airport for supporting our vision and partnering us on these exciting projects.”

    Airport Authority Hong Kong executive director, Commercial Cissy Chan said: “It is our pleasure to continue our strong partnership with Lagardère Travel Retail.  We look forward to the new Relay stores and new products that will be brought into HKIA.”

  • ‘First’ high-end luxury concession for Kunming

    ‘First’ high-end luxury concession for Kunming

    Lagardère Travel Retail has opened the first high-end luxury concession in Kunming’s Changshui International Airport in South-Western China, which the retailer says is the result of a ‘close and successful partnership’ with Yunnan Airport Group and Asiaray Media Group.

    Inaugurated in 2012, Changshui airport is said to be one of the largest and most modern in Asia and serves as a gateway to China’s Yunnan region with growing links to neighbouring countries of South-East Asia.

    Evidence of this can be found in the airport’s traffic reports, which show that the number of passengers at Kunming airport has risen rapidly in recent years. In 2015, the airport is expected to serve over 36m passengers and will be the fastest-growing of China’s large airports.

    The master-concession, encompassing an area of over 1,000sq m in the main departure concourse, brings together ‘ten of the biggest names in luxury fashion and cosmetics’, says LTR.

    Emporio Armani, Salvatore Ferragamo, Dior, Hugo Boss, Bally, Montblanc, Coach, MCM, Tommy Hilfiger and Calvin Klein Jean comprise a strong brand line-up offering a range of ready-to-wear, accessories and beauty products.

    Dublin-based Aer Rianta International originally opened 11 domestic shops at what was Kunming’s newly-built Changshui International Airport in south-west China in June 2012.

    The contract, secured in 2011, was seen as an important one at the time for ARI, marking its first Mainland China airport store openings where it held exclusive rights to sell duty paid fashion goods and accessories, perfume and cosmetics, confectionery, jewellery and souvenirs at the capital city airport in Yunnan Province.

    However, in September 2014, Aer Rianta International confirmed that it had has ceased duty paid operations at Kunming International Airport and in a brief statement issued at the time, ARI CEO Jack MacGowan said: “We are pleased that ARI Yunnan has reached this constructive and amicable agreement with Yunnan Airports Group in the best interests of both parties and look forward to potential opportunities for working together again.”

    ‘WORLD-CLASS SERVICE FROM SALES CONSULTANTS’

    According to LTR, customers will be able to enjoy “world-class service delivered by Lagardère Travel Retail’s sales consultants who benefit from the company’s ISO-9001 certified OSCAR training programme,” says the Paris headquartered group.

    “The industry leading training program covers customer service, brand philosophy and product knowledge, is unique in the travel retail industry and gives the font-line team the expertise and confidence to provide the exceptional service and personalised experience.

    “The addition of high-end brands to the retail offer at Changshui airport was made possible by the complete transformation of the main commercial surfaces in the airport’s departure concourse.”

    LTR and Asiaray Media have worked closely with Yunnan Airport Group to plan and implement the terminal’s commercial upgrade, which intends to elevate the passenger experience by aligning the quality of the commercial offer with that of the terminal’s ‘outstanding’ architectural design.

    “We are also very pleased to have the opportunity to further deepen our working relationship with our global brand partners that have taken part in this project. We look forward to further development in Kunming Changshui airport across the spectrum of categories. Our partnership with Asiaray creates novel and unique opportunities to drive passenger engagement and increase the visibility of the commercial offer.Eudes Fabre, General Manager – China for Lagardère Travel Retail, said: “This new opening is an exciting development for Lagardère Travel Retail in China. We are grateful to Yunnan Airport Group for their trust in our capabilities and for their effective support throughout the planning and building process.

    “We are now working together with the airport to offer exclusive and personalised services that improve the airport experience for our customers, create delightful moments and build loyalty.”

    Vincent Lam, CEO of Asiaray Media Group added: “We very pleased with the collaboration with Lagardère Travel Retail. They are a global leader in the airport retail and F&B sector and have demonstrated their professionalism, innovative spirit and understanding of local market trends throughout the different stages of this project. This partnership is an important development for our company.

    “We aim to create an innovative business model that benefits all parties by delivering an engaging experience between customers, shops and airport. This is our first pilot site where we have exclusive advertising concession at Kunming Changshui airport.

    “By closely integrating advertising and commercial assets within the terminal, we will be able to create a more interactive and ultimately more compelling experience for travellers. Our media assets will support the growth of the retail operation which shall certainly benefit us as advertising service provider riding on the business performance of such operation.”“We look forward to cover the other 25 airports where we have similar exclusive rights in the whole of China. This new development creates many new possibilities for our mutual brand partners.

    Wang Xinrui, Director of Commercial Management of Kunming Changshui International airport, added: “Kunming Airport is very satisfied with the outcome of our collaboration with Lagardère Travel Retail and Asiaray Media Group.

    “The newly-opened luxury brands significantly enhance the image and service provided by our airport and help bring our commercial offer in line with the best airports in the region. We look forwards to growing the collaboration with our partners.”