 |
Mary Portas: ‘Queen of Shops’ |
UK. Mary Portas, the leading consumer writer and commentator on retailing – and self-styled “˜Queen of Shops’ – has given the shopping and dining experience at London Heathrow Terminal 5 a largely positive review in her recent column in the Telegraph magazine.
Portas, known for her acerbic observations married to a keen insight into retailing, noted at the start: “I know the team at T5 went to extraordinary lengths to persuade the nation’s biggest brands to upgrade the quality of their shops.
“They even created a selection panel to determine which of the prospective retailers had taken T5’s ambitions on board. All of which got forgotten as the terminal itself failed in its primary function of transporting passengers, resulting in a public relations disaster from which both BAA and British Airways are still recovering.”
Nine months after that troubled opening, she put T5 to test. She began cautiously, noting: “To review a space as big as T5 after one swoop is probably unfair on all concerned, as the shopping experience is massive and I’ve only seen a part of it.
 |
The Moodie Report’s Rebecca Mann recently conducted a head-to-head shopping comparison between T5’s beauty department and leading London department store Selfridges. |
“Even so, I didn’t see all that many retailers who had upped their game, though I did spy a clever new shop from Dixons with interactive displays, a wonderful Sony shop, a nifty Thomas Pink ‘business bar’, and a funkier than usual Ted Baker.
“Paul Smith’s Globe concept store is one of the best new shops I’ve seen in a long while, with its fantastic mix of one-off finds from the man himself, limited-edition photographic prints, original doors from a French chateau and the best changing rooms on the planet.”
But Portas touched on a common criticism of T5 – it’s complex navigation – noting: “My only real criticism is that, when finding things fast so you can make your flight is beyond critical, navigating T5’s huge space is far from easy.”
 |
World Duty Free’s beauty offer attracted the Queen of Shops’ most positive feedback |
 |
Gordon Ramsay’s Plane Food “has single-handedly transformed airport dining” |
 |
Portas described the Sony shop as “wonderful” |
 |
The Moodie Report recently reviewed World Duty Free’s ‘Discover your World of Fragrance’ website – Click here to read |
But she was impressed by World Duty Free, in general, and its beauty department in particular. “World Duty Free, the multi-brand travel retail shop, had done a great job with both its service and offer. The beauty hall impressed me, anchored by a gorgeous Chanel concession selling the house’s entire range of cosmetics, sunglasses and skincare.”
Best service of the day? “[That was] Courtesy of Gordon Ramsay’s Plane Food restaurant which has single-handedly transformed airport dining,” Portas wrote. “I also bought the best practical idea I came across, a Plane Food picnic from Gordon Ramsay. The restaurant has Breakfast, A la carte and Picnic menus. The latter including tiger prawn salad, croque monsieur and chocolate brownies.”
Though she didn’t discover World Duty Free’s new “˜Discover your World of Fragrance’ site (www.discoverfragrance.co.uk), Portas went online to check out BAA’s main shopping offer. She noted: “The site is more about arrivals and departures than shopping, but further research led me to its new microsite, airportgiftlist.co.uk, with clever present ideas from the likes of Tess Daly and Olly Smith.”
So to the overall verdict. “We can be proud of the shopping and dining experience at Terminal 5,” she commented. “There is the odd dodgy luggage store, it’s hard to find your way around, and some of the high street brands didn’t really raise their game. But there are some beautiful stores that knock most high street sites into touch, and the dining is fabulous.”
MORE STORIES ON HEATHROW AIRPORT TERMINAL 5
‘Bringing glamour back to air travel’: New arrivals create a stir at Heathrow’s Bar 5 – 03/02/09
Sony invites passengers to experience Bond at T5 – 17/10/08
[comments]
