GERMANY. After a ten-year hiatus, Gebr. Heinemann is back in style at Düsseldorf Airport with four elegantly refurbished duty free and travel value stores covering some 3,700sq m of retail space.
The Moodie Davitt Report has been on location today for the official unveiling of the redesigned spaces, spread across three terminals. They are characterised by a strong Sense of Place, with the design inspired by the Rhine metropolis of Düsseldorf and its surrounding areas.
Heinemann secured the contract for these duty free stores in January, taking over from Dufry Group company World Duty Free, which had succeeded the German travel retailer in 2013.
The previous collaboration between Heinemann and the airport ran for 20 years from 1992 until the end of 2012.
The four stores each offer a distinctive design, with product ranges adapted to the target groups of each location.
The non-Schengen shop in Terminal C – at 1,300 sq m the largest of the stores – is modelled on the well-known Düsseldorf boulevard Königsallee, a shopping avenue in the city lined with global designer brand flagship stores.
Appropriately, a large assortment of premium brands such as Chanel, Dior and Lancôme are prominent in the store with their own bespoke areas.
The shop on level 1 at Terminal B has an ‘urban chic’ theme. Here, the focus is on the young and vibrant image of Düsseldorf, reflected for example in the large and colourful graffiti artwork by the shop entrance.
The shop on level 2 in the same terminal, an ode to the old town of Düsseldorf on the banks of the river Rhine, adds a special flair with its design features which include walls with a brick finish.
Art is the inspiration behind the store in Terminal A, where an installation of ribbons welcomes travellers at the entrance.
Across all four stores, the strong connection to Düsseldorf is underlined by the prominence of regional brands. These include Killepitsch, Rhein Gin and Siegfried Gin, which can be found in the ‘Local Heroes’ areas of the shops.
The Heinemann retail offer includes the pilot of a new initiative named ‘Test & Learn’. The idea is to promote new brands, including those which have recently come into prominence on social media.
Such brands are being given the opportunity to present their products to travellers for a limited period, giving them their first break into the travel retail channel or which are available at a very limited number of locations. Early examples include Transparent Lab, Theramid and Acnemy.
Heinemann said the redesign of the four stores places a special emphasis on sustainable furnishings. All items were manufactured to have a long service-life, consume few resources and minimise the company’s carbon footprint.
The format is characterised by a high degree of flexibility. This allows the retailer to respond quickly and efficiently to customer needs by changing its ranges, promotions, tasting sessions and product staging using the existing furnishings.
Gebr. Heinemann Chief Sales Officer Florian Seidel – who began his Heinemann career 23 years ago as a trainee at Düsseldorf Airport – told The Moodie Davitt Report: “It is a special day for us. Returning after ten years to an airport where we worked for 20 years before that, it’s a kind of homecoming. It’s really emotional for me personally and exciting for the company.
“We had a great dialogue [with the airport] to agree on our partnership, and we believe it will be a long-lasting collaboration for the future. There were parameters, of course, that we negotiated on. But the personal human touch in all these talks underlined again that it’s not only about numbers, it’s about common interest.
“Together, we have succeeded in developing a concept that showcases the region and its local specialties in the best possible way. We are incredibly proud of the final result and are excited to finally present this concept to the travellers in Düsseldorf.”
On the challenges of the refurbishment, Seidel told us: “It’s a great achievement by our team at Düsseldorf Heinemann. Because to take over and refurbish a full operation needs to be very precise, there is a lot of planning and accuracy needed.
“In this past half year, there was a very, very good cooperation [between the Heinemann team and the airport], achieving all this with no big loss in revenues. The airport supported us in a super professional way, playing a major supporting role to get us to where we find ourselves today, with four high-quality duty free spaces.”
He added: “It’s great to see the teammates on the shop floor excited by how much more we now have to offer customers – the store staff feel they have much more to engage the customer with. The whole environment is more appealing to them – as well as our shoppers – and they also see the benefits of what we have done here.”
Düsseldorf Airport CEO Lars Redeligx said: “We are delighted to have found a partner like Heinemann, who, like us, puts passengers first. We are united by our conviction of wanting to be more than just good; we want to offer every single customer an excellent experience.
“As an experienced and international player in the industry, Heinemann knows what is important and has positioned itself flexibly and sustainably in order to respond to current and future customer requirements and changes on an individual basis. The new shops at our airport are proof of how the future of travel retail is being successfully shaped.”
Giving his reaction to The Moodie Davitt Report inside the flagship of the four refurbished stores, Redeligx said: “I think we have experienced the Heinemann spirit again during these past weeks and months. Finally everything has come together. We are an airport that wants to stand out for customer experience and Heinemann is making a major contribution to that with these new stores.
“Obviously, duty free is a core part of our revenue stream. I do believe that the concepts that have been implemented here by Heinemann really address consumer needs and demands.
“You can see the thought that has gone into the assortment – the four duty free stores have points of difference to reflect the different types of passengers passing through the different terminals. It’s also great to see the space being given to new products and brands that you wouldn’t normally find in airport retail.
“We have customers entering the airport from close to 170 destinations right now, and of course they expect to see those global hero brands that appeal to everybody. But I think Düsseldorf is one of those places in Germany that has a strong heritage, strong products, and that is also a very prominent and important part of the Heinemann offer.
“The local flavour and Sense of Place is critical also to how we want to position ourselves as an airport. We want to be closely connected to the region, and also be ambassadors of everything that is great about Düsseldorf and the Rhine area, not just here in duty free but also in food & beverage and other aspects of the airport.”
Heinemann Düsseldorf Managing Director Gordana Schiel commented: “The new shops and their range of products are a testament to the strong connection to Düsseldorf and its surrounding areas.
“It is a joyful homecoming in the true sense. We are particularly thrilled that almost two-thirds of our employees were previous ambassadors of the Heinemann brand and have now joined us again.
“Travellers can look forward to an unforgettable shopping experience with a spectacular assortment in four customised retail spaces. These shops are partly stocked with in-vogue brands that are available exclusively in travel retail in Düsseldorf.
“Another of our goals is to attract new target groups, such as millennials and Gen Z, with social media-driven brands to change their perception of duty free shopping as an outdated pastime.” 
