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Biza’s big, bold store signage lures the traveller into the walkthrough store | |
UK. WDF today officially opened the new Biza tax and duty free store at Manchester Airport Terminal 2.
The 1,722sq m walkthrough store complements the original 2,300sq m Biza shop opened at the airport’s Terminal 1 last year.
WDF CEO Mark Riches told The Moodie Report: “We’ve been very pleased with the Biza brand in Terminal 1. In Terminal 2 the challenge for us was to not lose the power of the Biza brand but to make it operationally easier for the customer to shop and navigate through the store. And whilst Terminal 2 is easier space than Terminal 1, I think we have delivered that big time.”
“I’m very happy,” he added. “I think it’s terrific. It’s very different – we can be stereotyped as an industry; we can look a bit the same because we all sell pretty much the same brands. But how you sell and visually merchandise them is how you can make it look different. And this store, certainly, with its design and the way it has been handled, does look different. We don’t have anything like this in our [WDF] chain.”
The entrance is dominated by a giant monochromatic Biza sign – a hallmark of the T1 store. Another successful carry-over from T1 is the iconic Champagne tower, featuring cascades of hand-made glass “˜bubbles’.
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WDF CEO Mark Riches talks about the Biza evolution at Manchester Airport |
The store is dominated by the beauty offer, with 830sq m (48% of the space), followed by spirits and wine with 300sq m, luxury and accessories 279sq m and confectionery and food 110sq m.
High-profile promotion areas are placed strategically through the store, including WDF’s now trademark “˜Contentainment’ concept – a vast plasma screen wall that dominates the spirits area, enabling brands to target customers with tailored digital content and related promotional activity (for example, Patrón tequila was offering tastings today, reinforcing its presence on the giant screens).
Biza also offers 3D plasma screens, claimed to be a first in airport retail.
Manchester Airport Commercial Director Andrew Harrison told The Moodie Report that in keeping with the terminal’s leisure passenger-dominated profile, “We’ve tried to create the atmosphere of a holiday terminal with the range of shops and catering – but this [Biza] is the jewel in the crown.”
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Mark Riches speaks against the dramatic backdrop of the ‘Contentainment’ wall, featuring fast-selling Patrón tequila… | |
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… And now the screen changes to Zacapa rum from Diageo Global Travel & Middle East | |
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Under the spotlight: Against the stunning backdrop of luxury vodka brand Snow Leopard, Manchester Airport Commercial Director Andrew Harrison introduces the “absolutely fantastic” Biza store at Terminal 2 | |
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Opening time: (Left to right) WDF Retail Operations Director Fred Creighton, CEO Mark Riches and Manchester Airport Commercial Director Andrew Harrison cut the official ribbon to celebrate the opening of Biza Tax & Duty Free at Terminal 2 | |
Addressing guests just before the ribbon-cutting ceremony, Riches described the new outlet as “one of the most fantastic stores we’ve got in our business.”
He added: “The most exciting thing about this store is that it enables the fantastic brands that we sell to showcase themselves in a much, much better way.”
He concluded: “The Biza brand is about excitement. It’s a little bit different from most tax and duty free stores around the world. Manchester Airport pushed us to be different and to create something for Manchester and its passengers. ”
 Adding critical “˜meters’ to the airport shopping experience |
| The overall in-store vibrancy, lifted in particular by the “˜Contentainment’ programme and the Champagne area, ensures Biza escapes negative ratings on points 3 and 10. |
| More on The Moodie Blog |
Manchester Airport Commercial Director Andrew Harrison told guests: “When we developed T1 we wanted to reinvigorate the airport and transform the departure lounge – and we wanted to do that through the retail and catering experience. Critical to that was the tax and duty free offer.
“So we tried to put a brief together for a tax and duty free store that pushed back boundaries and was bold – a bit like Manchester really. We wanted a store that was both visually exciting and absolutely commercial and I think we achieved that in T1.
“The challenge from a T2 point of view was how do you top it? However, I think this is absolutely fantastic… as you look around the store you see how the concept has moved on – without losing the very essence of Biza with all its great touches.”
Turning to Riches and his WDF team, he said: “Thank you for your passion, your vision, the partnership approach, and above all the hard work that has gone into designing, building and opening this fantastic store.”
Riches in turn later paid warm tribute to the retailer’s airport partner. “You couldn’t wish for better partners than Manchester Airport,” he told The Moodie Report. “They are very proactive. And they’ve supported the investment and the concept right from the word go. They’ve been very committed to creating something special for the Manchester passenger.”
The Moodie View: Biza dazzles in Manchester |
In a statement Manchester Airport Managing Director Andrew Cornish commented: “The Biza brand is perfect for Manchester Airport and we were delighted to be so involved in its development from the offset. It was the next logical step to refresh the retail offering in our re-designed T2 and introduce a second Biza store.
“It looks fantastic and delivers the dynamic, inspiring and welcoming store environment that we wanted for our customers. Without a doubt this retail development places Manchester Airport on the leading edge of travel retail.”
Several of WDF’s most successful brands are currently on high-profile promotion, including leading hair styling brand ghd which was giving on-stage demonstrations today. ghd Head of Travel Retail George Lesniak paid tribute to WDF’s development of the “˜Contentainment concept’, telling The Moodie Report: “Contentainment was a big entree for us for WDF doors. From being in no doors in mid-2007, we’re now in 34.”
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I’m forever blowing bubbles: The Champagne tower with its glass bubbles literally adds fizz to the retail mix | |
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Eyewear is a major growth area for WDF (and for travel retail in general) and it is well executed here in Terminal 2 | |
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High-profile promotion areas punctuate the shop – this one dedicated to D&G’s new fragrance | |
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Another look at the striking Contentainment screen, showing how the Patrón tequila brand message is brought to life | |
COMMENT: We’ve reported on a flurry of store openings over the past two years, several of them in the WDF and wider Autogrill estate. Manchester T2 is among the best we’ve seen.
Apart from a disappointingly lame free-standing confectionery area at the back of the store, the overall impressions are of vibrancy, fun and of brands being brought to life. The central walkway that leads through the shop offers the classic walkthrough route but there’s no feeling of being herded here – the main aisle is more subtle than usual and off it run a series of generously spaced tributaries that allow the traveller to explore without ever losing their orientation.
The brief that CEO Mark Riches gave Retail Operations Director Fred Creighton and his team was succinct: “Make it as simple as possible for customers to shop”.
That’s been delivered – and with style. “We’ve created secondary and tertiary walkways,” Creighton noted. “It’s very airy and very easy to get in and out. The promotional areas come out to meet the passenger and there’s a lovely feeling about the shop that grows on you.
“The sightlines are designed so you can stand and see every offer throughout the store.”
Creighton and Riches both used one of The Moodie Report’s favourite terms a lot today – “˜vistas’. They were referring to the sweeping views that characterise this vibrant, clean, uncluttered, and happening store.
We also liked the white spirits and Contentainment areas very much, and eyewear (a growing WDF strength) has been very well executed here. Tobacco is solid but it’s in beauty that the retailer, as so often, shines. Yves Saint Laurent Parfums’ new feminine fragrance Parisienne is apparently proving an extraordinary blockbuster in French travel retail and judging by the fantastic quality of display here in Manchester, British success should follow. Most of the other beauty brands also do themselves proud here.
At the time of its launch, Biza in T1 was a bold, risky venture. It got some things spectacularly right – notably in the liquor area – but its initial execution at least was simply too complex (not assisted by the structural difficulties of the store) and at times cluttered. T2 has managed to avoid the latter while maintaining the zest of the original. It’s a store that you simply enjoy being in – and isn’t that a good place to start?
NOTE TO AIRPORT COMPANIES, RETAILERS AND OTHER COMMERCIAL OPERATORS: If you have a major opening planned, let The Moodie Report know. We’ll be delighted to attend and to provide our unrivalled and immediate global coverage, incorporating our trademark blend of accurate business journalism, extensive picture treatment, video streaming, blogging and podcasting. We’ll get your story to the world. Simply e-mail Martin Moodie at Martin@TheMoodieReport.com.
MORE STORIES ON WDF
Sagatiba enjoys sales boost with World Duty Free – 06/10/09
World Duty Free unveils walkthrough store in new Jersey Airport Departures area – 12/09/09
