US (HAWAII). DFS Group has begun a US$45 million renovation of its 180,000sq ft store DFS Galleria Waikiki, the largest travel retail location in Hawaii.
The store is located at Kalakaua and Royal Hawaiian avenues in Waikiki. The renovation includes an already completed new Fine Watches and Jewelry World on the duty free (third) floor which opened in late December.
DFS has started the reconstruction of its Kalakaua Avenue entry, which will become the Waikiki Luxury Walk.
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The impressive new store exterior façade |
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An artist’s rendering of the luxury-focused new Waikiki Luxury Walk from Kalakaua |
Existing Hawaii-themed shops and the walkthrough aquarium will be replaced by European and American designer boutiques. Brands with shops in the Waikiki Luxury Walk will include Dior, Loewe, Pucci, Marc Jacobs, Ralph Lauren, Emporio Armani, Hugo Boss, Coach and Chloé.
The store will remain open during the phased construction which will be completed in early 2008.
DFS Group Chairman and CEO Ed Brennan said: “A major strategic initiative of DFS is to upgrade our offerings to focus on expanding core luxury brands and adding new brands that are popular with our customers.
“We believe our direction fits well with Hawaii’s Strategic Tourism Plan which calls for attracting more high spending visitors. We are very excited about the new direction we’re giving the DFS Galleria Waikiki and the opportunity it provides us to add ours to the list of major renovation projects which are injecting new energy and excitement to the Waikiki destination.”
Additional improvements include major reconstruction of all of the remaining first floor spaces and the entire second floor of the main DFS Galleria store. A greatly expanded and more elegant Beauty World will be a highlight of the new second floor presentation.
Some beauty brands such as Lancôme, Estée Lauder, Chanel and Dior will be expanded and new brands will be added including Kiehl’s, RMK and Shu Uemura.
ABOUT DFS: DFS Group is the world’s largest travel retailer with more than 150 airport stores in Asia and the US and 14 large downtown DFS Gallerias in the Asia Pacific region. The company has 6,500 employees and is owned by LVMH Moet Hennessey Louis Vuitton and companies associated with one of DFS Group’s founders, Robert Miller.
