Inspired by earth, sea and sky – Jeddah Duty Free’s vibrant showcase for Saudi Arabia

SAUDI ARABIA. JAH Arabia International Duty Free yesterday (17 September) inaugurated an expansive, elegant and experiential Jeddah Duty Free store at King Abdulaziz International Airport (KAIA), and was joined by airport company Jeddah Airports, other business partners and media including The Moodie Davitt Report for a special celebration. See our initial story here.

The 6,000sq m departures retail environment in Terminal 1 (retail spans 11,500sq m across the airport) houses many memorable local flourishes in design and offer, balanced by a strong presence from global brands and embellished by a series of first-to-market concepts.

The store, managed by the JAH Arabia joint venture between Gebr. Heinemann, Jordanian Duty-Free Shops and Saudi partner Astra Group, breaks new ground for airport duty-free in the Kingdom in terms of design, use of digital, breadth of brands across luxury, beauty and destination goods.

Hailing a world-class environment

Jeddah Airports CEO Engr Mazen Johar greeted guests at a press conference on Wednesday, saying he was proud to present “the largest, most comprehensive and most enjoyable duty free experience in the Kingdom”.

He noted, “With this step we move forward with ambition and vision – raising the quality of services for our passengers and positioning ourselves among the leading airports of the world.

“This space, which brings together nearly 500 global and local brands, offers passengers an exceptional shopping experience, elevating their journey while aligning with the objectives of the National Aviation Strategy under Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030.

“The launch of duty free will boost revenues, diversify income streams and support the local economy, while helping us achieve our future goals of attracting greater international investment.

“It will raise the global ranking of our airport, bringing us closer to our aspiration of becoming a leading international hub.”

He later told The Moodie Davitt Report: “We keep breaking records for passenger traffic and will hit 52 million this year, we keep receiving industry awards which we value, and this shows our strong plan is delivering.

“The passenger experience should be one of the best anywhere at Jeddah Airport, including in duty free. Today is another milestone in what we have promised our passengers. I will just say, there is more to come.”

JAH Arabia International Duty Free CEO Simon Forde said, “It has been a great partnership opening these shops with Jeddah Airports, a challenging and tough partnership sometimes, but that’s how it should be.

“One of the strengths of JEDCO is how they have created such a seamless journey from check-in to gate, and duty free needs to reflect that in how people travel through and the ease of the experience.”

Click on the icon above to hear JAH Arabia International Duty Free CEO Simon Forde discuss the significance of the opening with Dermot Davitt. 

He added, “The JAH Arabia partnership that came together in Hamburg in 2023 between Gebr. Heinemann, Astra Group and Jordanian Duty Free Shops has delivered in the shops here today.

“Gebr. Heinemann’s dedicated team provided the design concept and the categories, Jordanian Duty Free delivered much-needed regional expertise, while Astra Group supplied administration, local needs, a wide network in the Kingdom and they ultimately built the shops. It is a true three-way partnership.”

He also saluted the teams that made it happen, from the multinational management team but especially the all-Saudi frontline workforce of around 400.

Forde said, “The concept is beautiful but we need product so we have brought in the best-in-class of duty-free categories as well as regional products.

“It was important to offer something different. The Scents of Jeddah are unique to Jeddah Airport. We have collaborations that are unique in the GCC, such as M&Ms and Kate Spade, and we have the first Swarovski Created Diamonds concept in the region.”

Forde also touched on the digital opportunity. He said, “Duty free continues to be more about brick than click, but next year we will launch a shopping experience that is web-based and on the app, which will take us to the forefront of regional duty frees.”

Within the duty-free environment, an eye-catching digital feature is the wraparound LED screen that highlights national days and allows for various other promotions on a rolling basis.

Assessing performance and trends to date, Forde said that during the transition from temporary to permanent stores sales hit records on some days. He added that he was confident the business would hit projections with work on the stores substantially complete.

First impressions – Walking Jeddah Duty Free

The retail space carries a striking visual identity inspired by the elements of earth, water and sky, complemented by some evocative design flourishes, led by the KAIA clock as a central landmark.

Three core zones that differ in style and colour act as calling cards for the key categories. Water (food, souvenirs) is expressed by blue tones and a coral-shaped canopy; warm, earthy tones inspired by the mountainous area near Jeddah draw travellers to the beauty area; while sky features light, reflection and an ethereal quality in framing luxury.

Guests at the opening encountered these and the many other striking features on a detailed store tour in the company of senior JAH Arabia senior management and category specialists*.

Treasuring Saudi Arabia

Travellers enter the international departures space after alighting from a transit train. Here they immediately encounter an engagement stage with a bright, digital Welcome Tree at its heart and a wide selection of Saudi artisanal products, part of the vibrant Treasures of the Red Sea campaign.

The campaign leads on a nautical theme, evocative of the underwater world, with many fixtures made from recycled plastic and 3D printed.

Dates and Saudi perfumes are among the promoted products with the hero an exclusive and highly innovative trio of limited-edition perfumes under the Scents of Jeddah label, sold only through Jeddah Duty Free at the airport.

The retailer collaborated with French fragrance creator Majda Bekkali to develop this beautifully crafted, luxury line (priced SAR690/US$184 per bottle).

These are respectively titled Anwar (The Light), inspired by the glow of lanterns in Jeddah’s souks; Nafoora (The Fountain) inspired by the fountain of King Fahd; and Rawashin (The Windows), which pays homage to the city’s carved wooden lattices.

This zone of around 100sq m will be rotated to include other launches and events later, and it complements other stages that house seasonal or sports-related campaigns from Formula One to football-themed events.

The travel retailer aimed to create spaces that encouraged travellers to take and post pictures; a further highlight space early in the journey – in the food & confectionery zone – does this through a Memories of Saudi booth with various icons as well as national backdrops available to embellish their pictures.

In confectionery global brands blend with regional and local (the latter around 15% of category sales). Among the firsts is a regional debut for the M&Ms/Kate Spade bag and chocolate collaboration, which initially came to life at Antalya Airport (also through Gebr. Heinemann).

In a neat touch, some of the international brand houses also promote using a localised touch, for example Toblerone with its ‘Love Jeddah’ wallbay signage.

A big highlight of the airside space lies close by – Davidoff’s first airport cigar lounge in the world.

An extensive walk-in space houses a fine and varied collection of Davidoff cigars and accessories alongside Cuban ranges, with generous luxury space next door in which guests can relax and enjoy a cigar. Shoppers can even sample their purchases, with the retailer resealing their package before departure.

Other tobacco products remain important in departures though not as much as in arrivals – where the category dominates the business in currently limited space, though this will be tripled to around 450sq m in 2026.

Further along the store, children’s goods are positioned in a prominent, expansive zone, with a LEGO shop-in-shop alongside other play-led fixturing.

The journey leads to a hugely impressive arena for local food products under JAH Arabia‘s commitment to support Saudi craft and culture. The best-known large and many smaller independent Saudi producers of dates and sweets are present here.

When the store opened, a leading dates brand on promotion sold one palette’s worth in 20 minutes, such was its popularity.

In a lovely addition, travellers can sample local products’ key ingredients through scents in bell jars across shelves that represent collaborations with leading coffee and tea makers.

Forward with fashion

Fashion & accessories is designed in an open concept without walls to the front; sunglasses are the major focus in the centre, with womenswear and menswear on either side. The open display allows for flexibility in the assortment, with space available for up-and-coming brands or regional specials.

This area is framed by seven mono-brand boutiques for Lacoste, MCM, Polo Ralph Lauren, Boss, Michael Kors, Longchamp and Swarovski.

In a further debut concept for Jeddah Duty Free, crystal jewellery house Swarovski’s outlet houses the first Swarovski Created Diamonds space in the region.

The final big opening here, coming soon, is a Breitling boutique combined with space for Tumi.

The category approach broadly is to lean on affordable luxury across multiple brands to capture the breadth of consumers passing through the airport.

Building on niche beauty

P&C in more than 2,000sq m is probably the stand-out feature of the store, as befits what will be the largest category in the newly opened environment.

Fragrances lead the way here in space and turnover terms, with niche brands – a core focus for Heinemann’s evolution of its beauty business at key locations – in a dedicated zone with over 20 elegantly personalised brand spaces.

With the depth of audience that Jeddah serves, there is enough spend to sustain the many high-end brands represented here from Amouage to Tiziana Terenzi to Tom Ford and others.

Another feature of beauty is the wealth of space allocated to popular regional labels in skincare as well as Saudi fragrances that have gained popularity through social media, a further nod to support for the community across the store.

This is reinforced by the final part of the store we visit, the souk, which is not only a home for traditional souvenirs but also presents sought-after Saudi fashion labels, a welcome twist on localisation in a key category. It is also presented in a light style, aided by the brighter wood tones, in a move away from some more traditional souk-style executions that travellers will encounter.

With the much-upgraded environment, JAH Arabia expects beauty to reach around 40% of sales, fashion at least 20%, with the balance from the rest of the categories.

With just days since many of the spaces opened, there will be fine-tuning to come.

More broadly, customer flow is influenced by how travellers enter the departures space upon alighting from the transit train, with some moving straight to the heart of the store and perhaps on to gates rather than exploring the perimeter areas.

To counter this dual circulation, the retailer has included many stop points and engagement zones in the various flows to draw travellers in. Heinemann and partners also placed many mainstream, popular items around the perimeter to be sought out, with luxury items and other brand highlights towards the interior.

The combination of these dynamics should capture passenger attention and trigger them to stop or turn around with strategically placed campaigns and events on the journey.

Wayfinding from commercial zone to gates, while not a retail issue on its own, influences consumer satisfaction and is another factor that requires attention.

The partnership also overcame many logistic and technical challenges to open the store on time and with such vibrant impact.

The offer has something for most guests, from lower spending pilgrims (a key audience in an airport that serves millions of visitors religious sites Madinah and Mecca) alongside luxury shoppers with high ticket spends – and has surprise and theatre aplenty. It blends lovely design touches with well-placed digital, and will be enhanced by the completion of the mezzanine F&B range allowing more dwell time nearby.

With this combination, and the space that allows brand partners to shine, Jeddah Duty Free can proudly take its place among the great travel retail arenas of the Gulf region.

*With thanks to JAH Arabia and Gebr. Heinemann expert guides on the shop tour, who included JAH CEO Simon Forde, JAH CCO Oleksandr Kolomytsev, Gebr. Heinemann Sales Representative Jan Binke and Head of Design Concepts Juan Hildebrandt, Gebr. Heinemann team members Constanze Hohmann (Engagement Zone), Thorsten Blöing (Davidoff humidor), Luca Sophie Cordes (fashion), and JAH team members Dua’a Ghazal (regional and local sweets) and Duaa Abudawood (electronics & multibrand store).