ITALY. Aeroporti di Roma (ADR) has awarded the tender for the management and development of six stores in Rome Fiumicino Airport and one store at Rome Ciampino Airport to Alpha Airports Group.
This follows the agreed exit of The Nuance Group from its retail contract and the subsequent decision to split the contract between rival retailers on a phased basis. One more retailer will be appointed in due course.
ADR Executive Vice-President Commercial Andrea Belardini told The Moodie Report: “The decision was made to split the Nuance contract into two major specialist retailers with proven capabilities in the fashion, fine food and accessories categories.
“We run a very competitive process and we came to the conclusion that Alpha’s offer and plan matches perfectly with our vision of the future of retail in Rome airports and enables us to make progress in our development plan. Alpha have developed a product strategy on the accessories categories that will help us to adapt faster to market demand and to serve wider segments of passengers.”
Belardini added: “We have also appreciated a common vision on the need to enhance the shopping experience in our airports. In addition Alpha has proven in the field a strong focus on human resources management [something critical at Rome Airports where the employee unions play a key role – Ed].
“We look forward to working with the high quality team of Alpha on the implementation.”
Belardini said that the remaining shops will be managed by Nuance until the completion of the tender, which is expected shortly.
Alpha Airports Group reacted with delight to the award. It said the opening of seven boutiques across Fiumicino and Ciampino airports this summer would significantly extending both the company’s European presence and its specialities offering.
As part of its plans for Fiumicino Airport, Alpha is constructing and managing a standalone Guess branded store – marking the start of a new retail partnership for both organisations.
A series of specialist store identities is also being created for both airports to support the entire new range of accessory outlets which will be launched throughout the summer and early autumn.
Combined, the new stores will provide Alpha with over 750sq m of retail space dedicated to accessories, jewellery, watches and sunglasses as well as introducing many new brands to both Alpha Airport Shopping and Rome’s airports.
In Fiumicino, in addition to building a Guess Accessories shop, Alpha is taking charge of four existing stores currently run by Nuance. All are being completely refurbished to create two Zinq branded outlets and two Alpha Accessories stores, both dedicated to jewellery, watches, sunglasses and bags. A standalone sunglasses store will also be constructed in time for a September launch.
In Ciampino, Alpha will take over an 80sq m store from another retailer in June and will convert the space into an Alpha Accessories store.
New brands for Alpha will include Breil, cK, Armani and Guess in the jewellery ranges along with sunglasses by Dior, Versace, Adidas, Fendi, Persol, Silhouette, Vogue, Moschino and Max Mara.
Alpha is also introducing new brands to its watches selection – including Breil and Tag – and to its handbag offering, including Nannini, Guess, Cocinelle, and Cerruti.
David King, Managing Director of Alpha Airport Shopping and Executive Director of Alpha Airports Group told The Moodie Report that he was delighted with the gain, which follows hot on the heels of the company’s triumph in the Birmingham International Airport tax and duty free tender last week (first revealed by The Moodie Report VIP News Alert on 20 April).
He said: “There is a gap in the travel retail market for a strong accessories concept and this is something that Alpha is now doing with authority.
“We know that the look of these stores is key. We have the advantage of having trialled our concepts in the UK – with extremely positive results.
“In bags alone, since changing the presentation and displays, we have seen a sales increase of +51% year-to-date in the category, so it is a real success story for Alpha. We are confident that we can deliver an equally strong sales performance in Rome.”
Andrea Belardini added: “Alpha has an excellent track record in the specialities categories and has delivered some highly impressive results in the UK.
“We were particularly impressed with their proactive approach and their attention to customer service. They are a very people-focused business and this is reflected in everything they do.”
NOTE: As with Alpha’s duty and tax free contract win at Birmingham International Airport last week, this story was first broken to the industry by The Moodie Report VIP News Alert, a free e-mail service sent to the 6,500-plus readers of The Moodie Report. The service is dedicated to stories of major importance only and is sponsored by BPI.
MORE STORIES ON ROME AIRPORTS
Dufry opens two Bijoux Terner shops in Rome – 21/02/05
Refurbishment of duty free pays off in Rome as AdR posts double-digit earnings growth – 08/11/04
