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Budapest breakthrough: (l-r) Gunnar Heinemann, airport Director Consumers Alan Bork, airport CEO Jost Lammers and Claus Heinemann celebrate the unveiling of Heinemann Duty Free’s 1,400sq m walk-through store |
HUNGARY. Budapest Airport has unveiled its ambitious new Terminal 2 SkyCourt development, the cornerstone of which is Gebr Heinemann’s 1,400sq m walk-through Heinemann Duty Free store.
The retailer has also opened two 200sq m concept shops at SkyCourt. One offers fashion from Hugo Boss and Polo Ralph Lauren, and the other features collections from Montblanc, Burberry and Longchamp.
Heinemann Duty Free is the anchor store in the new €100 million SkyCourt development, located after a new centralised security area which links terminals 2A and 2B.
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The Heinemann Duty Free team greets guests as the curtain falls to reveal the new store |
The impressive new complex features strong use of natural light throughout, wide open store frontages, and a good mix of food & beverage, predominantly located on the mezzanine level. SSP operates most of the F&B concepts, including a high-class bar under the name of well-known local brand Gundel, as well as a Hippopotamus branded restaurant and others. Local operators manage some of the other concessions, which include a Costa Coffee and a soon-to-open KFC.
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The Regionals zone leans heavily on Budapest’s heritage as a spa town |
The Heinemann Duty Free store was revealed to brand partners and media last night, with the zone opening to passengers from 27 March. The project saw the Hamburg-based company invest €3.5 million and has created 50 jobs.
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Heinemann’s Choice offers “variety and entertainment” and is a key feature of the retailer’s brand |
Gebr Heinemann Co-Owner Gunnar Heinemann said: “This opening is of special importance to our company, as Hungary is a standard-bearer for the remarkable transformation that has taken place in Europe over the past 20 years. The new SkyCourt at Budapest Airport is a wonderful symbol of how closely the citizens of our continent are now connected by air transport.”
Gebr Heinemann said it expects turnover of around €50 million in the first full year of operation, compared to €37.8 million at the airport in 2010. It also expects spend per head to rise by +25% as a result of the new store opening.
The new project takes the company’s retail space at Budapest from 1,300sq m to 2,200sq m. Gebr Heinemann also benefits from a long-term contract at the location: the main travel retail concession, including the new SkyCourt development, runs until 31 December 2020, while the branded store concessions are for five years.
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Beauty is a key category in the Budapest business, denoted by the retailer’s black and white colour coding |
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Gunnar Heinemann on a breakthrough in Budapest |
Gunnar Heinemann added: “We aim to gain the loyalty of our customers through our family name. Customers should be aware that they are choosing Heinemann. Not only do we give duty free a face and add personality to the business, but we are also the only family-owned business in the global duty free market. Our brand is not based on an artificial name. More than 130 years of trustworthy service and consistent performance have made our company grow, and we want to communicate this success to our customers.”
Budapest Airport CEO Jost Lammers said: “We have had a proven, reliable partner in Heinemann Duty Free for more than a decade. With the opening of SkyCourt we will offer a premium category travel experience to passengers and shopping is an integral part of this. Heinemann’s offer will meet the taste of the most demanding passenger for cosmetics, liquor and wine, toys, Hungarian or international brands. Together we serve a common goal: to make air travel a joyful event for everybody.”
Lammers said that Non-Aviation revenues had been under 25% of the airport’s income when he arrived more than three years ago, but this is now close to 30%, he noted, with the figure set to rise close to 40% in coming years, he hoped.
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Sunglasses is one category to gain additional focus in the new store |
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Swarovski Senior Sales Manager Travel Retail Dmitry Schipakov and Vice President Travel Retail Peter Zottl |
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Montblanc Area Sales Manager Europe Travel Retail Jan Luijendijk at the company’s impressive boutique |
Alan Bork, the airport’s new Director Consumers (replacing Bob McFadyen earlier this year) added: “This is really a step change for retailing here. The facilities until now have not allowed for world-class retail, but this has changed. There’s now an inviting store after security, and great visibility to the apron beyond. There is also a Sense of Place, and Heinemann has showed its expertise in adding local flavour both to the product mix and to the environment, with its spa theme in the “˜Regionals’ area.”
That Regionals area is one way in which Heinemann Duty Free at Budapest shares common elements with the brand’s execution elsewhere. This zone features highlights and delicacies from Hungary and was designed by local firm GEON, which has integrated the theme of water into the shop style – evoking Hungary’s spa and bathing culture traditions. With 130 springs and 21 public baths, Budapest is the biggest spa city in Europe.
Regional products are hugely popular with shoppers at Budapest Airport, with around 20% of travel retail items purchased a local or regional product, said Gebr Heinemann.
Gunnar Heinemann said: “Passengers expect both international and regional brands to be on offer. We set ourselves the task of bringing together both best-selling items from around the world and attractive country-specific products in one shop. Our employees possess a wealth of knowledge about regional products, which foreigners can buy as present or souvenirs.”
He said the company’s success in recent tenders in Vienna, Berlin and St. Petersburg leaned heavily on its “˜Regionals’ feature. “We will continue to follow this successful path and bring the culture of the respective city or country to life in our shops.”
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Spirits, led by Scotch whiskies, features on Heinemann Duty Free’s stone-themed display wall |
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Confectionery is split by sub-category, with a dedicated wall for premium brands |
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Local company GEON designed the water-themed Regionals zone, which carries wines and other Hungarian goods |
The company also cited the savings it can offer over the Hungarian domestic market on key local goods. On a half-litre bottle of Degenfeld Tokaji Aszú 2000, the saving is 25.89%, while Gundel Apricot Brandy brings a saving of 38.95% at Heinemann Duty Free, it said. Goose liver (under the Rex Ciborum brand) offers a discount of 11.47% at the airport versus downtown, while Zwack Unicum (0.5l) carries a saving of 35.44%, said the retailer.
Other key elements include Heinemann’s Choice, a regularly changing promotional series that aims to inject “variety and entertainment” into the offer. This will change every eight weeks to keep the offer fresh. Further services on offer include pre-order, with purchases ready to collect in the shop as passengers travel.
Of the key categories, fragrances & cosmetics (around 40% of the business) dominates one half of the store, with the signature black and white look denoting the beauty zones. The back wall features a fashion & accessories area branded in silver and grey tints, with a stronger representation for sunglasses and bags than existed previously, while tobacco and liquor follow as one traces a route around the Heinemann Duty Free store, with Regionals at its heart. Confectionery is split by category, with a premium branded wall in one corner and other brands towards the front of the store nearby.
Overall, as at other Heinemann Duty Free stores, there is more emphasis on category rather than brand, and there is little personalisation of fixtures. The store has great visibility throughout, with 4m-high ceilings a strong feature in adding to the broad, open feel. Unlike many other walk-through stores, customers are not directed by means of a path meandering through the unit, but rather in a straight line to the back of the store, along which they can turn left or right.
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Hugo Boss (top) and Ralph Lauren bring strong ranges to SkyCourt via their boutiques |
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Longchamp shares high-class boutique space with Burberry and Montblanc |
The opening in Hungary takes the retailer’s Heinemann Duty Free brand into its fourth country – after Germany, Austria and Slovakia – with more to follow. The latest stores opened in Vienna in February and in Hannover this month. As we revealed earlier this week, a further store will open in St. Petersburg Pulkovo Airport in June. From January 2012 the Heinemann Duty Free brand will be unveiled in Norway, at Oslo, Trondheim, Kristiansand and Stavanger airports. Berlin Brandenburg International will follow later next year.
Gunnar Heinemann said the expansion of the family brand name could work in markets outside Germany where it is still relatively unknown.
“This is just the beginning,” he said. “It may take 20 years to become established but we will take that long if needed. We are a family company. We don’t think from quarter to quarter or from year to year, but from generation to generation. The more we take our values to different markets, the more the brand will develop. We have a certain reputation in a B2B sense, now the challenge is to translate that to the consumer.
“And our people will be our greatest ambassadors. What has been so fulfilling over the past two and a half years is the pride our people take in the Heinemann Duty Free brand. People who travel want good choice of course but they also want to be treated correctly and we intend to make the experience something special too.”
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Claus Heinemann, Raoul Spanger and Gunnar Heinemann salute the opening of SkyCourt |
Gebr Heinemann is also planning to ramp up the communication of its Heinemann Duty Free brand, beginning this year with the launch of a new loyalty scheme, “˜Heinemann and Me’. The project aims to attract 1 million members within five years, and will be a key promotional tool for the company’s global operations, said Board Member Raoul Spanger.
“Beginning with tests in Hamburg and Frankfurt from June, we will launch this new B2C brand “˜Heinemann and Me’,” he said. “Many people buy duty free but there is no loyalty to duty free as a business, or to the retailer. Here we have a family brand name that is trusted and we intend to build on that.”
He added: “There is huge potential to connect with our consumers better. There are still too many people out there who don’t believe duty free is cheaper than the high street, and who we need to convince of the value on offer. And then there are many who don’t know that they can still buy in our stores, and who we (as an industry) have not communicated properly with.
“So in future Heinemann and Me will be an App, it will be on Facebook, it will be worldwide. We are part of the travel chain, and must, like the airport, play our part in raising the standard of the consumer experience.”
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SkyCourt houses a varied regional and international food & beverage offer, led by SSP, which includes local brand name Gundel and restaurant brand Hippopotamus (above) on the mezzanine level |
We’ll bring you more reaction soon, and the new SkyCourt development will feature in a forthcoming issue of The Moodie Report Print Edition, and in a special edition of The Moodie Report PLUS.
