SOUTH KOREA. Entas Duty Free, the winner of an open tender for a 740sq m duty free concession at Incheon Port’s International Passenger Terminal 1, opened the newly enhanced store on 1 July.
As reported, the space was previously run by state-owned Korea Tourism Organization. It was put up for tender by the Korea Customs Service last May.
Aiming to offer passengers an upscale shopping experience similar to that at an international airport, Entas Duty Free has added 100 different local and international luxury brands to the existing liquor and tobacco offer at the port duty free shop.
To target Chinese tourists, the retailer has expanded the liquor and tobacco categories, and added more Korean cosmetics, watches, electrical appliances and health foods. New brands have also been added to perfumes, sunglasses and handbags, including Police, Escada, Lanvin, Zegna, Guess, Bvlgari, Prada, Paco Rabanne, Valentino, Aigner, Kipling, LeSportsac, Lapalette and Sonovi.
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Entas will open a second store at Incheon Port International Passenger Terminal in September |
To celebrate the opening, Entas Duty Free is giving away discount coupons for five different categories of products, including a -10% discount on liquor, until the end of August.
Entas Duty Free told The Moodie Report it will open a second store spanning around 4,300sq m at Incheon Port International Passenger Terminal this September.
According to the Korea Duty Free Association, seaport sales at Incheon hit US$11.7 million in 2013, a growth of +3.7% year-on-year. This was driven primarily by Chinese tourists, who contributed US$11.55 million (+5.1%). With new ports and cruise terminals set to open in 2016 at Incheon and cruise tourism estimated to bring in 1.05 million foreigners to Korea in 2014, seaport sales are primed to grow further.
Entas Duty Free has expressed its ambitions to become one of the top three players in the booming South Korean duty free market, currently dominated by Lotte Duty Free and The Shilla Duty Free.
It is a subsidiary of The Entas Group, a leading Korean restaurant operator which owns and operates 80 Korean, Japanese and Chinese restaurants, including Kyungbokkung, Sapporo and Kokuryo. The group’s Song-do Hanok Village development – another arm of its business – was completed this month, introducing Korean culture and cuisine to foreigners visiting Incheon.
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Entas owns and operates 80 restaurants, including Kyungbokkung (pictured) |
Established in 1991 and incorporated in 2003, The Entas Group reported consolidated revenues of US$170.8 million as of December 2013, with gross sales estimated to hit US$240 billion this year.
In December 2013, Entas was granted a duty free retailing license in downtown Incheon, where it plans to build a 15-storey duty free shop in the Guwol-dong district. Located next to the Incheon Culture & Art Center and scheduled for completion in August 2014, the development will cater largely to Chinese tourists.
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Entas Duty Free will soon open a 15-storey duty free store in downtown Incheon |
The building will house restaurants in the Entas portfolio; a five-storey duty free offer comprising perfumes, cosmetics, liquor, tobacco, electronics, sunglasses, jewellery, and watches; a spa and a beauty and hair salon; as well as a gallery and theatre.
The group also has plans to target the growing South Korean casino industry, which recently saw the entry of its first foreign casino operator – LOCZ Korea, a joint venture between Las Vegas-based Caesars Entertainment and Indonesian conglomerate Lippo Group.
NOTE: Look out for a major profile of Entas Duty Free in coming weeks.
