ITALY. LS travel retail this morning officially unveiled eight expanded and updated stores in Rome Fiumicino airport, just under a year after it completed its acquisition of the Aeroporti di Roma-controlled duty free and duty paid concessions at the hub. [The Moodie Report Chairman Martin Moodie and Multimedia Manager Ed Lake are on location in Rome and will present special video coverage of the opening next week.]
The retailer has opened three Aelia Duty Free stand-alone stores and five Aelia Duty Free/Casa Del Gusto combi-stores. There is also an Acqua Di Parma boutique within an Aelia Duty Free store.
LS travel retail said it spent the last six months totally refurbishing more than 4,800sq m of space at the airport, although all the retail areas have remained open throughout this period. The eight stores previously covered 3,100sq m and further extensions are planned for 2016.
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LS travel retail is aiming for a premium offer with the upgraded stores |
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Through LS travel retail Roma, the company has been the operator of the duty free and duty paid stores in Rome’s airports (the second being Ciampino) since October 2012 and has spent more than €13 million revamping the old outlets and opening new ones. The retailer said that it has already seen clear signs of improvements in performance.
“The great performance of these stores is due to the huge scale of our initial investment, our shared approach with Aeroporti di Roma, the quality of our retail strategies, these amazing new retail environments, the expansion and training of the sales teams, and the fantastic team spirit that is shared right across the airport,” said Lagardère Services CEO Dag Rasmussen.
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The Acqua Di Parma boutique within one of the Aelia stores |
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The retailer aims to highlight the best of Italian brands and products in multiple product categories – perfumes/cosmetics, liquor, food and tobacco – in a premium retail environment. LS travel retail said the offer matches the overall premiumisation of the retail environment that can be seen both domestically and in other international airports.
It is also currently investing in more than 5,000 hours of intensive training, including its renowned internal OSCAR programme, addressing all aspects of sales performance and in-store services.
Confirming the investment in human resources, more than 90 fixed-term contracts have been transformed into permanent contracts and over 70 part-time contracts transformed into full-time contracts.
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The stores aim to highlight the best of Italian brands and products |
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Aeroporti Di Roma’s MasterPlan aims to increase the airport’s capacity to 50 million passengers in the next decade, with more connections to the world’s strongest growth areas such as the Middle East and Asia. LS travel retail said it would contribute to this by offering “the airport retail experience Rome deserves”.
Aeroporti di Roma CEO Lorenzo Lo Presti added: “We are delighted to partner with LS travel retail, developing a retail airport experience that matches the very best in Europe. We feel that this is essential for Rome, one of Europe’s greatest and most attractive cities.”
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