FRANCE. Paris-based Hachette Distribution Services (HDS) has scored additional news and gift shop openings in transport centres in central and eastern Europe.
Since 1991, HDS has been rapidly developing in the region, with a unique press distribution and retail network, using travel locations as a key lever in the market.
In Hungary, the group’s subsidiary Lapker is celebrating its fifth anniversary this month and has just created an award designed to promote the emergence of young new talents in the Hungarian press. In addition to the travel retail chain Relay, Lapker is also operating and developing the City Press brand, which has a large network of retail outlets in city centres.
In Poland and the Czech Republic, HDS owns Relay stores in rail stations and airports, as well as R Kiosk and InMedio for press shops located in the heart of cities. In Poland there are, for example, 200 news outlets including 120 InMedio stores. The recent InMedio brand has also been recently launched in Romania, with the opening at the beginning of 2003 of several outlets in Bucharest, in the country’s two largest shopping malls.
HDS said it is also testing new distribution services in Serbia, where its subsidiary Global Press is developing its press distribution business with supermarkets and discount retailers.
The group said in a statement it sees a high growth potential and travel growth for the region, where it is the only international operator able to operate on the whole press distribution chain.
