Lotte Duty Free opens stylish duty free & travel retail offer in Guam

GUAM. Lotte Duty Free today officially unveiled an impressively diverse new retail offer at A.B. Won Pat International Airport, Guam.

“The retail offering we have unveiled today stands alongside any airport in the world“

Hong-Kyun Lee CEO Lotte Duty Free

The Grand Opening followed a 12-month, US$20 million refurbishment designed to transform the airport’s shopping facilities [The Moodie Report is on location in Guam and will bring you an extensive addition to this preliminary report next week in The Moodie e-Zine].

Governor Eddie Baza Calvo, Guam Airport Executive Manager Charles (Chuck) H. Ada II and Lotte Duty Free CEO Hong-Kyun Lee led a ribbon-cutting ceremony which included members of the 32nd Guam Legislature. Representatives from Lotte Duty Free, A.B. Won Pat International Airport Guam, Guam Visitors Bureau (GVB), major tourism partners and hotels, key airlines, local business partners and members of the local and international media (including several Korean journalists and The Moodie Report from the travel retail channel) were also present.

The opening included a tour of the newly refurbished facility as well as Lotte’s official signing of the ‘HÃ¥fa Adai Pledge’ – a cornerstone of GVB’s local community branding campaign, aimed at engaging local businesses and non-profit organisations to make Guam a better place to live, work and visit.

The celebration concluded with a luncheon reception and press conference at the newly opened Lotte Hotel in Tumon Bay.

Guam Governor Eddie Calvo told guests: “This is a very special time for Guam. I want to congratulate the Lotte Group because I was also at the ribbon cutting for this hotel, a five-star hotel, very recently.

“There’s a lot of optimism about the tourism services industry… and I want to thank the Lotte Group for what you have done in investing in Guam. It also means a lot for the airport… it is a quality shopping experience for visitors who – whether they are coming to, going from or transiting through Guam – will see this beautiful experience. ”

Guam Airport Executive Manager Charles (Chuck) H. Ada II said: “The partnership between Guam Airport Authority and Lotte Duty Free has been nothing short of magnificent and full of blessings.” He noted that Lotte’s investment had helped the airport authority successfully raise US$150 million via a bond sale to fund its next stage of infrastructure development.

Hong-Kyun Lee commented: “This is a very proud day for Lotte Duty Free, for everyone involved in helping us deliver on our vision and, most importantly, for the island of Guam. The retail offering we have unveiled today stands alongside any airport in the world as an exceptional shopping experience.

VIPs gather for the formal ribbon cutting at A.B. Won Pat International Airport today

(Left to right) Senator Tina Rose Muña Barnes; Christine Sonido Calvo, First Lady of Guam; Eddie Baza Calvo, Governor of Guam; and Hong-Kyun Lee, Lotte Duty Free CEO, at today’s opening ceremony

“It’s a fantastic last impression of Guam, generating significantly increased revenues for the airport and creating opportunities for the people and businesses of Guam. It showcases Lotte Duty Free’s credentials as a high-quality global duty free retail operator.”

Lotte Duty Free Guam runs a 24-hour operation, 365 days a year, with over 180 local employees.

PROJECT HIGHLIGHTS

GUAM GATEWAY: Lotte Duty Free – along with retail design consultant Lightfoot Space, Guam-based architects TRMA and general contractor Black Construction – created a bespoke retail concept for the duty free concession, called Guam Gateway.

The project covers over 24,000sq ft of retail, the main airport thoroughfare, a refurbished food court, renovated restrooms and other airport facilities. Lotte said it aimed to create a seamless passenger experience designed to maximise airside dwell-time in the commercial zone and drive greater commercial revenues.

SENSE OF PLACE: The Guam Gateway offers a strong representation of Guam’s traditional culture. A life-sized model Carabao (Guam’s native water buffalo) and cart are sited just after security, featuring Guam crafts, cookies and other local products.

Beyond that stands an iconic Latte stone feature leading into the Chamorro Hut entrance of the Guam Cultural Center. This new concept blends cultural experiences, with tributes to Guam landmarks such as Gadao’s Cave and the famous Puntan dos Amantes (Two Lover’s Point), alongside souvenir merchandise and local products. A centerpiece of the Cultural Center is a 4,500-litre aquarium teeming with fish as a final photo opportunity and memory of Guam’s spectacular marine environment.

The Guam Cultural Center, positioned directly ahead of passengers as they exit security, pays impressive homage to traditional Chamarro culture

A highlight of the retail makeover is a brilliantly coloured giant aquarium which holds 4,500 gallons of water and a wide array of local fish

(Above and below) Shoppers (and their children) are entranced by the new attraction

NEW-LOOK AIRPORT SHOPPING: The overhaul of the commercial space saw the implementation of a semi-walkthrough format, including additional space being allocated for the core categories of perfumes & cosmetics and liquor, tobacco and food.

Alongside the core category stores, Lotte recently completed the transformation of the airport’s boutique line-up, with nine new openings – Bally, Bvlgari, Burberry, Chloe, Coach, Loewe, Salvatore Ferragamo, Tory Burch and Tumi. The Tory Burch boutique is a first for Guam Airport and only the brand’s third airport store worldwide.

A proud Lotte Duty Free CEO Hong-Kyun Lee holds up the ‘Hafa Adai Pledge’ that Lotte has made to supporting the Guam community, culture and crafts

(Above and below) Entering Paradise: Lotte Duty Free has created a brief transition zone before passengers discover the retail offer

This life-like representation of the famous Carabao (water buffalo) greets passengers as soon as they enter the retail zone

(Above) The Guam Cultural Center pays tribute to Guam’s legendary Puntan Dos Amantes (Two Lovers’ Point) and (below) GÃ¥dao’s Cave, famously enshrined in Chamorro folklore

A strong focus on Guam products embraces the wares of some 50 local vendors

A proud Lotte team clad in distinctive uniforms made by a local fashion designer

Other new brand introductions to Guam Airport include SKII, La Mer, Prada, Laneige, Sulwhasoo, Missha and Tony Moly in perfume and cosmetics. Liquor brands such as Moutai, Choya, Absolut, Baileys, Cointreau, Dom Perignon and Krug are newcomers, as are Toblerone, Neuhaus, Ferrero, Goldkenn and M&M’s in the food category. In watches and fashion accessories, the range has been enhanced with the presence of brands such as Breitling, Kate Spade, Tom Ford, Agatha, Folli Follie and Korean jewellery brand STONEHENgE.

COMMENT: A.B. Won Pat International may have handled less than 1.4 million outbound passengers last year but Lotte Duty Free’s Grand Opening today proved that small airports can have top-class retail offers too. The Lightfoot Space-designed environment hits consistently high, and sometimes thrilling, notes.

The immediate visual impact as passengers clear security is stunning – the replica Carabao, the Guam Cultural Center and the giant aquarium combining to great effect and surely leaving no passenger in any doubt as to the provenance of the offer (or of where they are flying out of). This truly is Sense of Place in execution and ambition.

Beauty has been treated tastefully and with seriously good brand impact from both household names and also an array of Guam debutantes, notably of course from Korea. Liquor, tobacco, luxury, watches and fashion accessories are all competently (and sometimes better than that) presented and the confectionery and food line-up is a big step up from that traditionally offered here. The sunglasses section is simply top class. I also liked the feeling of ebullience and pride among the staff, resplendent in their colourful new uniforms which nicely echo the vibrancy of the offer.

There’s a nice softness to the overall environment, characterised by gentle design curves and locally inspired finishings (the banana leaf pattern is particularly alluring). The way retail has been opened up to merge seamlessly with the food & beverage offer is a deft and potentially lucrative touch and Lotte’s heavy investment has even manifested itself in a makeover of the airport’s long-maligned toilet facilities (in 27 years of travel retail journalism, today was the first time I have been given a tour of the washrooms. Fearing a quirky pop-up store, I was relieved to witness instead a simple but essential upgrading of facilities which, like sub-standard retail and food & beverage, can have a disproportionate impact on an airport’s reputation.)

This is a different Lotte Duty Free to anything I have seen before, a much more localised approach and far more adventurous than I (and I suspect many others) would have suspected. Lotte Duty Free CEO Hong-Kyun Lee told me during an extensive interview just after today’s Grand Opening that the new offer captures both the traditional spirit of Lotte and a new emphasis on localisation – a combination that he thinks will help the company reach (spurred by acquisitions) global number one status in travel retail by 2020. Today certainly lays down an important marker.

The beauty department features some alluring design elements representing local Bougainvillea (above), ocean waves (the ceiling effect below) and banana leaf patterns (just above the brand names)

(Above and below) Lotte Duty Free has relocated and extended the luxury boutique line-up

The soft and alluring beauty department offers a much-enhanced range of brands

One of the standouts of the new-look offer is the sunglasses area, a bespoke offer built on strict category management principles

Perennial travel retail favourite Swarovski makes a typically enticing appearance at Lotte Duty Free Guam

Liquor, housed right at the start of the passenger journey through the retail zone, is driving some of the highest category growth figures

The watches store, which houses a diverse range of brands and price-points, has been relocated to the centre of the retail action

Lotte Duty Free has cleverly opened up its retail offering to the food & beverage zone to create a seamless commercial offer

‘Babymooning’ is born: In a remarkable initiative, announced jointly by Lotte Duty Free CEO Hong-Kyun Lee and Guam Visitors Bureau General Manager Karl Pangelinan, Lotte plans to fund some 1,000 Korean couples who are expecting a child to visit Guam in 2015

Alex Cook, CEO of Lightfoot Space, the retail designer on the project, presents the Lotte Duty Free project to an audience of leading tourism, airport and retail executives

(Left) The Moodie Report Chairman Martin Moodie and Lotte Duty Free CEO Hong-Kyun Lee chat after a wide-ranging interview that will appear in The Moodie Report e-Zine soon; (Right) Retail support from the highest level: The new offer is blessed by local priest Father Gus Gumataotao

Lotte Duty Free CEO Hong-Kyun Lee and his team with Martin Moodie after the Grand Opening