UK. Manchester Airport is poised to open an arrivals duty paid shop in terminal one. The store, which will cover about 936sq ft, will open in April/May.
“This is something we have considered doing for some time,” Head of Retail Jane Barber told The Moodie Report. “We have had to reconfigure arrivals in T1, in order to accommodate domestic passengers, and that has given us the ideal opportunity to build the shop.”
The offer will comprise duty paid liquor, predominantly Champagne and wines, fragrances, cosmetics and confectionery. The store will be operated by concessionaire Alpha.
“I think this will be an interesting concept for us,” added Barber. “One of the advantages of working with somebody like Alpha is they’re very flexible, willing to try new things and see what happens.”
Experimentation is a key part of Barber’s strategy, both in terms of exploring new concepts – and tweaking existing ones.
Consequently, Manchester’s general T1 landside business is poised for a reshuffle, even though it is far from under-performing.
“We have a significant landside business [in that terminal], predominantly because of the number of staff and meeters and greeters there,” Barber explained. “Having said that, our plan now is to take some of that existing landside space airside, because we see more and more that the dwell time of passengers is all going the other side of passport control.
“We believe it’s better to get them there, where we’ve got the full offer and, where applicable, tax/duty free benefits. So, although we will still have a sizeable landside offer, it will probably be half of what it currently is.”
Pharmacy and CTN has been earmarked to stay; speciality stores and accessories will make the move airside.
Note: Look out for the full interview with Jane Barber, published in the next print edition of The Moodie Report, out soon.
MORE STORIES ON MANCHESTER AIRPORT
Major growth for Manchester – 11/04/05
GB Airways launches new route from Manchester – 21/03/05
Manchester Airports Group posts February traffic growth of +6.1% – 09/03/05
Manchester Airport buoyed by strong retail showing – 18/11/04
