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The investment in Arrivals shopping has fuelled ATÜ Duty Free’s strong performance |
TURKEY. Turkey’s leading duty free retailer ATÜ Duty Free posted double-digit sales growth year-on-year in the third quarter of 2011, as recent investments in its business pay off. The strong figures come against the background of a thriving Turkish economy and tourism sector.
ATÜ Duty Free is a joint venture between TAV Airports Holding and Unifree, in which Gebr Heinemann is a major shareholder and the principal supplier.
The Moodie Report visited Istanbul this week, where ATÜ Duty Free General Manager Ersan Arcan said: “We have maintained our strong growth pattern into the third quarter, when sales increased by around +20%. That is well ahead of passenger traffic growth of about +13%.
“It shows the value of the investments we have made in our shopping areas here at Istanbul Atatürk International Airport. Our Arrivals shops [opened in late 2009 and 2010] offer more space and a better service to passengers, and we are seeing the results with greater penetration of premium shoppers and in increased basket sizes.
“Through our partners and Unifree and Gebr Heinemann, we are targeting the customer with special products that they cannot find in the domestic market, adding an element of surprise to the mix, and encouraging travellers to trade up, especially in the areas of liquor, tobacco and confectionery. The perception of duty free has changed utterly since we made these investments in Arrivals and also our Departure store upgrades completed previously. Now, duty free is recognised as a premium environment with high quality goods.”
The retailer is also completing a major investment in the commercial areas at Riga International Airport. On 1 January, co-parent TAV Airports took over the ten-year master commercial contract in the Latvian capital, covering duty free, speciality retail, food & beverage, currency exchange, car rental, business lounges, banking and other services.
Arcan said: “We have completed around 95% of the airside commercial renovation, and it has a totally new look, including a new ATÜ Duty Free-branded travel retail operation. It’s a more modern concept, created in partnership with Gebr Heinemann and Unifree. It’s a location with strong potential. It has a good transit profile, plus around 35% of passengers are travelling to non-Schengen locations so that adds to the duty free potential. Among the new concepts we have added is a Baltic-themed destination outlet of around 200sq m.”
In other news, ATÜ Duty Free opened two 250sq m stores at the new passenger terminal at Skopje Airport in Macedonia in September. TAV operates the airport, and is creating new facilities under a €100 million investment programme.
We’ll bring you images of the new Riga and Skopje developments soon, and a full review of ATÜ Duty Free’s activities will appear in The Moodie Report Print Edition for October-November, out soon.
