BRAZIL. Dufry officially opened its first land border duty free shop in Brazil yesterday and said it plans to open further stores soon.
As reported, the store is located in Uruguaiana on the Argentinean frontier and covers 850sq m. The move follows final approval of regulations governing this channel of business by customs authorities.
Dufry Divisional CEO Central and South America Rene Riedi said: “I am thrilled with our debut in the duty free border shop business in Brazil. The completion of the regulations has been long awaited and we are now focusing on exploring this completely new channel for Dufry in Brazil. We are looking forward to offering customers the same world class shopping experience they can find in our shops worldwide.”
The store offers the core duty free product categories, with brands such as: MAC, Carolina Herrera, Victoria’s Secret, Shiseido, Lindt, Godiva, Johnnie Walker, Chivas, Absolut, Tanqueray, JBL, Lacoste and Desigual, among others.
Customer services include RED by Dufry, the group’s loyalty programme, and Reserve & Collect, which allows customers to pre-order their purchases online. A tasting bar is also available, while interactive and digital technologies support the perfumes & cosmetics category in particular, said Dufry.
Dufry noted: “The border duty free business already exists in other countries in South America, and it is very popular among Brazilian customers, who cross the borders for that purpose. With the new regulation, there will be a total of 32 Brazilian twin-cities with the right to operate duty free border shops and Dufry intends to expand this business in all of these cities.”
