CLICK TO OPEN PICTURE GALLERY – BEIRUT DUTY FREE
LEBANON. May 14 was a momentous day in Beirut as Phoenicia Aer Rianta Company (PAC) formally opened phase two of one of the Middle East’s most impressive airport retail transformations.
PAC is a joint venture between Aer Rianta International-Middle East and Beirut-based Phoenicia Trading Afro Asia. The official opening took place in the presence of national and foreign VIPS. It was conducted by HE Minister of Transportation, Najib Mikati, under the patronage of the President of the Council of Ministers, Rafic Hariri. Also in attendance were Aer Rianta International-Middle East chairman Abdullah Bohindi and Aer Rianta International director general Eamon Foley.
The latest phase of the Beirut airport duty free complex, trading as Beirut Duty Free, has been trading since 1 April. Total retail space at the airport now amounts to over 4,500sq m (48,420sq ft), including two arrivals shops measuring a total of 460 sq m (4,950sq ft). This will be expanded further with the development of Phase 3, covering the landside areas as well as a significant destination-specific merchandise outlet in the main duty free area.
ON THE RECORD: “THE FEEDBACK FROM THE TRAVELLING PUBLIC HAS BEEN FANTASTIC. SALES HAVE SEEN AN IMMEDIATE UPLIFT AND ARE NOW RUNNING WEEKLY AT +28% AHEAD OF LAST YEAR” – GERRY CRAWFORD
The new retail complex represents a stunning transformation of what went before, according to PAC general manager Gerry Crawford. Before the development began, the Lebanese gateway had just 1,000sq m (10,760sq ft) of retail with a resultant limited offer. The new offer is spectacular in space, range and vision.
“The feedback from the traveling public has been fantastic and they are delighted with the rapid transformation at the airport,” said Crawford. “Sales have seen an immediate uplift at the location despite the troubling passenger numbers and are now running weekly at +28% ahead of last year.”
PAC is currently promoting the new shopping offer with a consumer-oriented campaign themed “Downtown in the heart of Beirut Airport”.
“This is in line with Beirut Duty Free’s strategy of incorporating strong international and domestic concessions with key international FMCG brands side by side at the airport – but all offering true duty free value,” said Crawford. “With a strong emphasis on concessioning specialist categories, Beirut Duty Free is basically introducing European travel retail strategies and solutions to the Middle East,” he added.
“As a concept, it has been highly successful for us and I am sure will be adopted in the future in many other Middle East airports.”
The main departures concourse now has 3,700 sq m (39,812sq ft) of retail space. Due to the design of the departures area (a central concourse with two separate departure wings), one of the key decisions initially was whether to duplicate product categories on both wings.
Management decided against that option in order to maximize the retail offer and range. Beirut is fortunate that traditionally people have arrived well before their flight due to formalities – and therefore dwell time is usually not a serious problem. For the passenger in a hurry, there is the added service of the last minute shops positioned near the departure gates.
With such a significant area, PAC has also been careful in implementing measures to reduce transaction and queuing time; thus maximizing the all important “Happy Hour”. Due to the construction of the facility, the main departures concourse has five distinct retail zones, effectively evolving into a shopping street.
Zone 1: Central Area
This is the central atrium area just after immigration, featuring expansive high ceilings, views to the runway and a central rotunda where the new car area is housed along with the Beirut Duty Free customer service desk. Entirely consisting of steel and glass, it is a thoroughly modern and striking design, incorporating large plasma screens for passenger information. Unlike other airports, the car offer is not restricted to a lottery but is a state-of-the-art driving simulation game, testing drivers’ skills to anticipate the correct time of impact against an obstacle. Entry will also soon be available on-line.
Zone 2: Beauty & Toys
Located on the west wing, the new Beauty Store measures 350 sq m (3,766sq ft). “It is totally customized by suppliers, with specially-designed below-the-line, high-impact, promotional areas linked to external televisions for maximum impact. There is also a specially-constructed make-up bar for “makeovers” by cosmetics companies,” said Crawford.
Most of the major cosmetics brands have already snapped up slots and are sending international make-up artists throughout the year. A custom-designed illuminated “Top Ten” wall is located behind each of the cashier points to encourage impulse purchases.
A new Toy Store measures 100 sq m (1,076sq ft) and is strategically located beside the beauty store – as the majority of children travelling are accompanied by mothers. “It is based around a “Kid’s Castle” theme, with a huge amount of colour,” said Crawford. “A significant amount of confectionery products (typically travel retail products aimed at the children’s market) are also merchandised side by side in the Toy Store.
“Some areas, such as Toys and Travel, especially, tend not to receive the space necessary for them to perform to their full potential. With the expanded retail space, we are in the enviable position of being able to allocate them the necessary environment to really excel. We are extremely excited about this new area and the feedback from our suppliers has been very positive. They certainly feel we are getting it right”.
Zone 3: Luxury Zone
The luxury zone comprises watches, jewellery, fashion and accessories and covers an area of 1,100 sq m (11,836sq ft).
The fashion areas have been fully customized as shop-in-shop concepts with Lancel, ST Dupont, Rossetti, Givenchy, Smalto, Sonia Rykiel, Lanvin, Dior, Nina Ricci, Lalique, Wolford, Dolce & Gabbana, Hugo Boss and Christian Dior. Several other brands are also coming soon: Salvatore Ferragamo, Lacoste, Hugo Boss and Hermes.
Fully-customized areas were also implemented for Swarovski, Zougheib Jewellery, Safilo (sunglasses) and Bonja Group.
As with other areas, PAC has been developing features emphasising the destination atmosphere. Some of the creations for the area include Phoenician Alabaster columns and a custom-designed Phoenician marble and glass illuminated fountain.
“The luxury zone is really very impressive,” enthuses Crawford. “A lot of time has been spent on the design to create a sophisticated retail environment. The brands and categories selected for inclusion are exactly in line with our customer profile. The designs look great, the individual brands “˜shop in shop’ concepts are top class and the overall result is superb.
The watch department has been given pride of place toward the front of the area. The category features: Cartier, Omega, Baume & Mercier, Raymond Weil, Tissot, Longines, Rado, Tag Heuer, Philippe Charriol, Christian Dior, Facconable, Gucci, Bruno Banani, Montblanc, Omorfia, Michaela Frey, AT Cross and Misaki.
Sports Watches have a striking area close to the travel area and sunglasses featuring; Swatch, Guess, Calvin Klein, Candino, Sector, Fossil, Rovina with other announcements to follow.
Zone 4: Duty Free
Cigars: In keeping with Phoenicia’s proud international reputation in the Cigar sector, the new innovative “World of Cigars” outlet is “unique and really exceptional”, enthuses Crawford.
“It covers a total area of 400 sq m and has the largest walk-in humidor in the world, a unique Vintage humidor for rare and aged cigars coupled with a VIP Smoking Lounge.”
Phoenicia Trading Afro Asia, which began retailing Cigars on-airport in 1980, was the first operator in the world to introduce walk-in humidors in airports.
The duty free area, located adjacent to Cigars, covers approximately 1,050sq m and houses cigarettes, tobacco, liquor, confectionery and wine. Within this, specific zones have been created, notably a dedicated wine area to showcase the world famous Lebanese classic vineyards. Belgian confectioner Neuhaus has also opened a shop-in-shop concept within this zone for the sale of fresh Belgian chocolates.
Zone 5: Electronics & Food
Electronics: This important area covers 320 sq m and includes the nicely-named Duty Free Cell (cellular phones), the Middle East’s first Virgin Megastore and the PAC-controlled electronics and photography categories. This area has a distinctly hi-tech ambience with metal ceilings and a large amount of in-store screens, including a 3 metre merchandising video wall.
Food: The Food Shop covers 250 sq m and houses several strong local names, such as Hallab, Rifai and Goodies. Patisserie Doueihy has a 25 sq m unit just outside the store.
Sales since opening have rocketed and are running +35% ahead of last year. Crawford adds: “I think this is the true litmus test – passengers voting with their pockets. They are also receiving real value as the area is located in the tax free zone; therefore all their purchases are exempt of VAT and we ensure that they really achieve this saving versus the domestic market.”
He adds: “The market for destination-specific food items has been quite astounding, far outweighing the traditional chocolate/confectionery gifting products and brands. There is a lot of demand from Arab nationals and the brands have great appeal to the huge Lebanese expatriate community.
A sense of achievement
Reflecting with pride on the whole achievement, Crawford pays credit to all those who made it happen. “The concept and design was handled by Jarlath Higgins of Aer Rianta International-Middle East (who also played a central role in the redesigned Bahrain Duty Free) in conjunction with PAC and ARI-ME management to create a unique travel environment with a difference to appeal to our key passenger profiles,” he says.
ON THE RECORD: “THE HARD WORK CONDUCTED EVERY YEAR SINCE OUR ORIGINAL INVOLVEMENT IN 1995 IS NOW ALL WORTHWHILE” – JOHN SUTCLIFFE
That pride – and pleasure – is clearly shared by the company’s regional managing director John Sutcliffe, a man who has personally pioneered many of the Irish group’s remarkable initiatives in the Middle East. “Aer Rianta International Middle East is delighted with the new shops in Beirut, developed to such high international standards. The next six months will be spent fine-tuning the retail offer and maturing merchandising and presentation standards.
“The hard work conducted every year since our original involvement in 1995 is now all worthwhile and together with our partners and other shareholders, we look forward to the coming 15 years of our contract in Beirut. It is fantastic to see the location reverting to its historic importance.” Aer Rianta International-Middle East is no stranger to pioneering retail developments. It has enjoyed striking success – often against the odds – in locations as diverse as Bahrain, Qatar and Cyprus. But given the level of transformation at Beirut airport, in one of the world’s great cities so long and so recently devastated by war, this latest achievement – forged in association with a dynamic local partner- surely ranks high in the company’s ongoing Middle East success story.
CLICK TO OPEN PICTURE GALLERY – BEIRUT DUTY FREE
CLICK HERE FOR OTHER PICTURE GALLERIES
