TÜRKIYE. Edrington Global Travel Retail, in collaboration with Unifree Duty Free and Gebr. Heinemann, has marked two firsts by unveiling The Macallan and Highland Park shop-in-shop at Istanbul Airport.
This is The Macallan’s first shop-in-shop in European travel retail and a world debut for the Highland Park shop-in-shop concept. The Moodie Davitt Report was on location for the official opening on 24 April.
Look out for our interview with Edrington Global Travel Retail Regional Managing Director Jeremy Speirs; Unifree Duty Free Chief Commercial Officer Ceren Tonguç; and Gebr. Heinemann Director Purchasing Liquor, Tobacco & Confectionery (LTC) Ruediger Stelkens, coming soon.
The 43sq m retail space offers an integrated sensory and digital experience, including a nosing tray and digital profiling tool called ‘Discover Your Expression’. This encourages travellers to find their preferred Colour Collection expression.
Shoppers can also sample select expressions and customise purchases through a bespoke gifting ritual. They can choose from an array of colourful ribbons featuring The Macallan logo.
Screens in The Macallan space showcase the single malt whiskybrand’s new visual identity through films that take viewers to The Macallan Estate in Scotland, highlighting a strong sense of place.
The shop-in-shop offers travellers a curated selection of single malts, including the travel retail-exclusive Colour Collection and Harmony Collection Green Meadow.
These are joined by limited releases A Night on Earth The Journey and Classic Cut, as well as prestige bottlings including The Macallan M Decanter, M Black and M Copper. The seventh release in The Macallan archival series, Folio 7, is also available at the shop-in-shop.
The Macallan curation highlights are the archived releases: Masters of Photography 7th Edition and Golden Age of Travel The Car.
The Highland Park shop-in-shop allows passengers to learn more about the brand’s home in Orkney, Scotland through a sensory experience involving aroma jars. The scent encapsulated within features notes of Orcadian heather, Hobbister Moor peat and smoke – three notes that give Highland Park its distinctive flavour profile.
The experience also features elements of purple heather, a key part of Highland Park’s brand story and liquid profile. Additionally, shoppers can explore the flavour profiles of the brand’s travel retail collection through a digital application.
Expressions on display include Highland Park’s travel retail-exclusive range: Spirit of the Bear, Loyalty of the Wolf and Wings of the Eagle.
The space also offers aged releases such as the 40 Year Old and 54 Year Old, and Highland Park Single Cask 20 Year Old Istanbul Edition, exclusively available at Istanbul Airport.
Edrington Global Travel Retail Regional Managing Director Jeremy Speirs said: “Since opening in 2018, Istanbul Airport has established itself as a prominent European aviation hub that boasts a diverse passenger mix and ever-expanding list of destinations.
“Istanbul is the meeting point of east and west and a strategic location in which to expand the presence of our key brands as we continue to invest in strengthening our retail footprint in Europe.
“We’re confident that The Macallan and Highland Park will be a welcome addition to the luxury brand offer at Unifree Duty Free’s impressive retail operation at Istanbul Airport.”
Gebr. Heinemann Director Purchasing Liquor, Tobacco & Confectionery Ruediger Stelkens spoke warmly about the company’s longstanding partnership with Edrington.
He told The Moodie Davitt Report: “Jeremy and I have known each for many years. We were talking about installing shop-and-shops and I said we have a special space in Istanbul, but it might be too big for just one single brand.
“That’s when we came up with the idea to use one-third of the space for Highland Park, which has a completely different taste profile.”
According to Unifree Duty Free Chief Commercial Officer Ceren Tonguç, The Macallan and Highland Park shop-in-shop’s product assortment caters well to the diverse audience at Istanbul Airport. She explained: “I divide the consumers into two segments. Some consumers, especially for whisky, are first-time shoppers.
“They know the brand or know that they want to buy whisky, but with limited knowledge. Mostly what they are looking for is some guidance and core assortments such as 12, 15 and 18 Year Olds – which are also affordable.
“But there are other shoppers who seek luxury. They know the brand and what they are looking for; they just want to explore limited editions or special offers.
“You cannot just begin with the story of The Macallan because they know the brand inside out, so you need to treat them differently.”
A new design direction
“This concept is part of a premiumisation journey,” Speirs told The Moodie Davitt Report. “The great thing about large format spaces is it becomes more than just a transaction, it is an experience.
“It’s part of our strategy to build our retail excellence to recruit consumers to the brand. This shop-in-shop facilitates an opportunity for us to showcase the brands and tell the stories behind them.
“We have a bulk of heritage on our side – The Macallan is 200 years young this year, while Highland Park has 226 years behind it.”
As reported, The Macallan is celebrating its bicentennial with an exclusive sensory experience crafted in collaboration with performing arts specialist Cirque du Soleil.
The event, called Cirque du Soleil Spirit, will be running from 9 to 31 May at The Macallan Estate in Speyside, Scotland.
The new shop-in-shop also highlights The Macallan’s revamped brand identity, which was revealed at the start of the year. The space incorporates a red and white colour palette.
Speirs told us why: “The white reflects things like the arboreta soil from the south of Spain, where we grow and source the grapes for sherry wines that are used to season the casks. The white chalk is actually the soil that the vines grow in.
“The red is the ‘red thread’ that goes through our brand history. If you go back to our earliest bottlings, the label typeset was actually red – we’ve just gone back to our roots.
“There are also things like the wave [texture], which goes through the whole Macallan shop-in-shop design, emulating the rolling hills up in Speyside where the Macallan Distillery is. The distillery itself is a wavy pattern as well, blending into the landscape there.”
For Highland Park the space attempts to bring sunny Orkney days to life with a fresh perspective on brand identity. Speirs said: “We’re moving from the dark to the light – it used to be sort of sinister. If you ever get a chance to go up to Orkney, there are many days when it’s beautiful, sunny and bright.
“It’s just a different perspective on what the location provides, it’s got some wonderful colours. There’s more on that to come later in the year.”
He emphasised that the new look and feel of Highland Park will change the game: “It’s on an evolutionary journey. Edrington collectively always looks to premiumise. We generally don’t play in the lower-end substandard ranges.
“We have an amazing range of older products to bring to market and we’re always keen to do that through a prolific innovation pipeline.”
The retailer’s perspective
While ecommerce offers convenience and competitive pricing, Stelkens believes that brick-and-mortar retail will persist in travel retail, though it must transform to remain relevant.
He points to the concept of retailtainment, where retail spaces are designed to offer more than just products – a shift crucial to attract and retain younger consumers.
Stelkens told us: “It is super important to have the right brand for the right retailtainment – that is what our airport business is about.
“The opening of this shop is truly great news for whisky enthusiasts and collectors alike. The Macallan and Highland Park are exceptional whiskies, and they are perfectly showcased in this shop-in-shop.
“With this, our spectacular assortment gains further allure, underscoring our longstanding and trustworthy partnership with Edrington.”
Tonguç remarked: “At Unifree Duty Free our foremost goal is to provide the best possible shopping experience for our guests and improve this practice every day through hosting firsts in the travel retail business to become the best customer-centric airport retailer.
“In line with this commitment, we are pleased to unveil this world-first concept in the Unifree Duty Free store at Istanbul Airport in a strong collaboration with Edrington, contributing to a superior shopping experience for our customers.
“We look forward to welcoming passengers to the new shop-in-shop at Unifree Duty Free Store, which offers a sensory and digitally focused experience, inviting travellers to dive deeper into the worlds of The Macallan and Highland Park and experience travel retail exclusives.” ✈
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