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AUSTRALIA. Perth Airport Pty Ltd has named James Richardson Group Pty Limited (JR), trading as JR/Duty Free, as the winning bidder for its duty free concession at Perth Airport’s International Terminal (Terminal 1), replacing The Nuance Group. The deal runs for ten years and two months.
The open tender was contested by four parties, incumbent Nuance, JR, Heinemann Asia Pacific and LS travel retail.
Perth Airport said it conducted a competitive tender process and “was impressed with the high quality proposals received, including from JR”.
“At a time when Perth Airport is undergoing a major redevelopment programme to transform the international arrivals and departures experience, we sought proposals that showed innovation in all areas of the business and a commitment to providing a superior customer experience,” said Brad Geatches, Chief Executive Officer at Perth Airport.
Together with Perth Airport, JR will build three new duty free stores during the contract period, increasing the floor space to 2,635sq m. This will allow JR to offer an increasingly diverse range of brands and products and high quality customer service, said the airport.
“JR currently operates duty free concessions at airports in Australia, New Zealand and Israel. Its proposal combined creativity in products and sales with dynamic and engaging store concepts and a strong operational strategy to maximise sales opportunities,” said Geatches.
“We are delighted to have been appointed by Perth Airport Pty Ltd and look forward to partnering with them in the transformation of their duty free precinct,” said JR Group Chairman Evelyn Danos.
“The scope of the redevelopment will allow us to offer a full and innovative shopping experience to all travellers passing through Perth International Airport – Australians and visitors alike,” said Ms Danos.
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The agreement will be effective from 1 November 2013 and follows the first major change to the international arrivals journey, when Immigration moves from the ground floor to a larger area on Level 1, next to the duty free Arrivals store. Arriving passengers will walk through the new duty free arrivals store before going to Immigration and then down the escalators to baggage reclaim.
“Perth Airport congratulates JR on their exceptional proposal including initiatives and strategies for driving duty free sales at the airport. We look forward to working with them on the exciting new developments we are currently undertaking to transform Perth Airport,” said Geatches.
The award is a blow to (incumbent) The Nuance Group in Australia, which had tried hard to extend the agreement prior to a tender being called. In a heavy loss-making Australian business for Nuance, Perth is understood to be a solid and viable operation.
We’ll bring you extended analysis of the Perth result and its repercussions for Australian duty free in the next edition of The Moodie Report e-Zine.
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