AUSTRALIA. Lagardère AWPL today celebrated the opening of its new Aelia Duty Free stores at Adelaide Airport.
The stores were opened by Lagardère AWPL CEO Costa Kouros, Adelaide Airport Managing Director Brenton Cox and The Honorary Zoe Bettison, Minister for Tourism and Multicultural Affairs at a ceremony this afternoon.
Designed and built in partnership with architectural and design practice peckvonhartel, shopfitting specialist Trivision, lighting design and solutions practice Studio All and consulting engineering firm Bestec, the new stores double the size of duty free retail across arrivals and departures.
Inside 800sq m of departures space and 400sq m in arrivals, travellers can discover a wide array of world-class brands & experiences across all duty free categories.
Kouros said: “The partnership between Adelaide Airport and Lagardère AWPL continues to grow from strong foundations built over more than 20 years.
“Our team has done an incredible job to bring these world-class stores to life in Adelaide, and our focus now is on delivering magical moments for every traveller that passes through our doors as we showcase the very best of Australia and South Australia to the world.”
The range has been curated to showcase the best of global, Australia and South Australia with more than 150sq m of shopping space specifically dedicated to local names, featuring over 50 brands introduced to duty free for the first time.
The global beauty category has been elevated, now featuring the full ‘three-axis’ premium experience of Chanel, Dior & Estée Lauder together for the first time in Adelaide; fragrance specialty with Jo Malone and skincare luxury with La Mer. The range also highlights the best Australian brands with luxury fragrances from Goldfield & Banks and popular South Australian skincare house Jurlique, plus fellow Australian beauty brands Hunter Lab, Salt by Hendrix and Glasshouse.
In liquor, global favourites and great local brands have equal billing, with a strong focus on craft gin. Australian distillers continue to produce some of the world’s best gin Lagardère AWPL noted, a view reinforced by the presence of Four Pillars, Never Never, Prohibition, Kangaroo Island Spirits and Ink Gin.
Tastings at the Adelaide Oval Bar will help travellers narrow down their choice of leading local liquors. Featured brands include Brookies, Kangaroo Island Spirits, 78 Degrees, Four Pillars and 23rd Street.
Highlights of the wine section include Henschke Hill of Grace, Penfolds Grange and the extremely rare Seppeltsfield 1922 100 Year Old Para Vintage Tawny, which scored a perfect 100 points from renowned Australian wine critic James Halliday.
The Moodie View: Championing a true Sense of Place (as evidenced in Adelaide)As gateways to a city, region or country, airports and their commercial partners surely have a responsibility to showcase local or national wares, skills and heritage in a credible, committed and culturally sensitive fashion. In my view such a programme should form an integral part of every airport retail tender. One of the perennial consumer criticisms of airport duty free stores (and to some degree food & beverage outlets) is their sameness, a perhaps inevitable censure given the importance of international brand names to retailers and consumers alike. But where those very same retailers and F&B operators do have a huge opportunity to differentiate themselves lies in genuine localisation that champions culture, craft, tastes and traditions on a global stage to an international audience. Read more from The Moodie View here. |
The offer is not confined to the big-name wine brands, with “hidden gems” such as Soul Growers, Kellermeister, Bird in Hand and Petaluma also available.
Reflecting a growing consumer desire for sustainably sourced products which are better for people and planet, the store also features both Low/No Alcohol and Low Impact sections.
Adelaide Airport Managing Director Brenton Cox said: “Adelaide Airport’s duty free offering plays a significant role in the overall customer experience of our international travellers.
“We’re delighted that many of our loved South Australian brands will sit side-by-side with global brands, showcasing the amazing products our State has to offer.
“With a further significant increase in international services over the past month and international passenger numbers now well above 60 percent of our pre-COVID figures, it’s wonderful to see Aelia Duty Free open in time for the busy Christmas and New Year travel period.”
The departures store also features a 50sq m Books News and Convenience offer, part Lagardère AWPL’s unique proposition in Pacific travel retail, which allows it to deliver across four business lines: Travel essentials, specialty retail, duty free and food service.
Travellers can shop the expanded range online and pre-order for both arrivals and departures at aeliadutyfree.com.au.
