USA. Leading independent duty free retailer International Shoppes has completed a major upgrade and expansion of its stores at New York JFK Terminal 8, which is home to American Airlines and partners.
International Shoppes Vice President Matthew Greenbaum told The Moodie Davitt Report: “At T8 we have finished a complete renovation of our main duty free store post-security, with upgraded space of 5,500sq ft.
“It’s our state-of-the-art, next generation store. It has been remodelled to include a dramatic, 15-foot wide LED display at the storefront, LED lighting throughout the store, and an abundance of high-end personalised and generic millwork.”
A key attraction is a series of beauty boutiques at the front of the store.
Brands that feature in their own spaces include Kiehl’s, Lancôme, Chanel, Dior and MAC, and there is a separate unit that houses Estée Lauder, Clinique, Jo Malone and Crème de la Mer.
These spaces (except for MAC) allow passengers to walk through into the duty free space, attracting more shoppers towards duty free assortment, said Greenbaum.
They build on the opening earlier in 2016 of a number of high-end boutiques, which included Bulgari and Ferragamo. More will open later in the year including Montblanc, Tag Heuer, Michael Kors and Hugo Boss.
In the main store, spirits brands with personalised space include The Glenlivet, Glenfiddich, Glenmorangie. Dewars, Chivas Regal, Johnnie Walker, Jim Beam, Jack Daniel’s, Grey Goose, Ciroc, Belvedere, Baileys, Absolut, Patron, Tito’s, Hennessy Woodford Reserve and Bombay Sapphire.
There is a Montecristo-branded cigar zone and JTI collaborated on the cigarette area. Key branding in confectionery features Toblerone, Hershey, Godiva and Lindt.
Other prominent brands with personalised space include Ray-Ban, Ralph Lauren, Calvin Klein, Carolina Herrera, Dolce & Gabbana, Armani, Tom Ford, Hermès, L’Occitane and Burberry.
There is more development to come at JFK Terminal 1. By the first quarter of 2017 International Shoppes will have moved into a new 7,700sq ft space there.
“We will develop a range of shop-in-shop beauty boutiques in the new space,” said Greenbaum. “Once complete we’ll go back to our existing store, demolish and renovate it so that we have an upgraded store serving fashion, liquor & tobacco and confectionery. That will operate alongside the new store that houses beauty on its own.”
At Boston Logan, the retailer is going to develop a new post-security duty free space in Terminal E by Q1 next year. “Again, this will feature beauty brand shop-in-shops including Estée Lauder, Crème de la Mer, Lancôme and Christian Dior,” said Greenbaum.
Noting the recent loss of International Shoppes’ Philadelphia Airport duty free concession to rival DFASS, Greenbaum said the outcome was disappointing.
“We have been there for some years and we enjoyed our good partnership with the airport,” he said. “We did see the business change negatively over the past two years or so. We didn’t want to leave but we cannot be everywhere and we’re focused on investing in our growing operations.”
*We’ll feature more on International Shoppes’ latest developments in our Cannes Print Edition, out in October.
