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Ambroise Fondeur: Spearheading Aelia’s major retail expansion drive |
FRANCE/INTERNATIONAL. Aelia has revealed details of some major retail openings over the next two years, as it continues with the roll-out of the Aelia Duty Free brand. These include new stores at Zagreb and Warsaw airports in April and May and at Auckland from 1 July. Later, it plans 2,000sq m of new space at Rome Fiumicino (from late 2016) and around 600sq m of additional space in a new terminal at Zagreb in two years’ time.
The company, a division of Lagardère Services, opened what it calls its “˜next generation’ Aelia Duty Free store in Marseille Airport’s MP2 terminal in late 2014. The next two locations – and the first major airports for the concept – will be Zagreb later this month and Warsaw next month. Warsaw in particular will be highly significant, noted Aelia Chief Executive Ambroise Fondeur.
He told The Moodie Report: “We are proud of what we have achieved in Marseille, and it is working well, but it is the pilot store in a regional location under what we call the “˜classic’ format. Warsaw is the first of the new “˜flagship’ format in 2,000sq m. It will be a more premium offer, with brands such as Victoria’s Secret there for the first time, extended colour and make-up zones in P&C, and localisation through an enhanced vodka range, as we add excitement and more impulse products.”
He added: “We are adapting the concept to each airport. We’ll use the basic modern retail elements for the “˜next generation’ stores across all locations, from the way gondolas are designed, the walkways, layout and the rhythm in the store. Digital is a key part, whether in-store – tablets for staff or promotional screens – or integration of the retail store into the online strategy with pre-order facilities and so on.”
At Auckland, as reported, the French company won one of the two available duty free concessions from 1 July, along with Aer Rianta International.
Fondeur said: “It’s quite a specific environment to have a competitor next door. It forces you to be even better at what you do. It will be all about differentiation and quality of operation, so it puts pressure on everyone to be at their best. What we are trying to do here is to create a different experience for the consumer so we become the preferred operator. We fully respect ARI so we know that will be a continuous struggle.
“At the same time if we both make Auckland a more interesting destination for New Zealand, it makes the airport business better for everyone. If we’re able to do something interesting it can be good for the airport and globally good for us too.”
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The ‘next generation’ Aelia store, piloted at Marseille mp2 (pictured), will roll out to new locations in the months ahead, with Warsaw a key launch |
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On plans beyond the next few months, Fondeur said there are some exciting projects in Rome and Zagreb to come in particular.
“Rome has performed very impressively, and that is even more positive given the loss of Russians, who are the number one nationality for duty free there,” he said. “We have benefited from the Chinese spend and from our investment in the stores. The next big project will be a new terminal at Fiumicino in late 2016, and as part of that we’ll open a new 2,000sq m flagship duty free shop.”
Fondeur added: “In Zagreb, we took over in December and are now renovating existing space. But a new terminal will be built in two years, and as part of that we are building a major store of around 600sq m.
“It’s the next step in leveraging our partnership with Aéroports de Paris, which is also part of the airport consortium. It makes sense for us and for them, and it underlines strength of that partnership.”
*Look out for a feature-length interview with Ambroise Fondeur in The Moodie Report’s May Print Edition.
