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Manchester Airport Group Chief Executive Geoff Muirhead cuts the red ribbon at the official Grand Opening ceremony for Attitude Tax Free, alongside The Nuance Group General Manager – UK & Eire Ian Hart and colleagues, and Manchester Airport Group Commercial Director Andrew Harrison (pictured fifth from right) and his team |
UK. The ‘holy grail’ of airport retail fashion may have been discovered – and it’s at Manchester Airport Terminal 1, to be precise.
The opening last week of The Nuance Group’s new Attitude Tax Free outlet is particularly significant within both an industry and category context. This is not just any fashion shop. Dubbed by the Swiss travel retailer as a “fashion department store”, this flagship 835sq m airside fashion emporium is thought to be the biggest for the category in the airport universe.
That’s great news – not just for Nuance but for the whole travel retail fashion sector. When The Moodie Report carried out a straw poll of fashion brands for a supplement to its Digital Print Edition last year, the constant refrain was: “Give us more space.” So it is with great pleasure that The Moodie Report’s Brands Editor – who has monitored the travel retail fashion world for a decade – writes this article.
Speaking to The Moodie Report at the official opening ceremony last Thursday of this “milestone” airside fashion concept, The Nuance Group General Manager – UK & Eire Ian Hart emphasised the importance of this venture.
“This store is a benchmark for Nuance for fashion for the UK and across all of Europe, and it is the largest fashion store, we believe, in an airport,” he enthused.
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The Nuance Group General Manager – UK & Eire Ian Hart celebrates with Manchester Airport Group CEO Geoff Muirhead |
Attitude Tax Free carries up-to-the-minute fashion and accessories collections from leading brands, including Bally, Hugo Boss, Burberry, Escada, Emporio Armani, Henri Lloyd, Kenneth Cole, Montblanc, Paris Hilton, Porsche Design, Samsonite Black Label, Tommy Hilfiger and Tumi.
The brands are presented as a series of shop-in-shops, all customised and personalised to each company, and were chosen to appeal to the high percentage of ABC1 customers at Manchester T1. Some 70% of passengers are from this affluent demographic group, flying mainly on European and international routes. There is very little domestic traffic in this terminal.
The spacious multi-brand department store carries a wide assortment of merchandise, such as clothing – including men’s suits and overcoats – alongside bags, luggage, fashion jewellery, watches and sunglasses. “We wanted lots of variety,” enthused Hart. “We think we will be able to sell men’s suits very successfully and we have installed four changing rooms.” These are located next to the Hugo Boss men’s shop-in-shop, where suits and business shirts are much in evidence.
The latest trends in contemporary store design were executed by Swiss retail architect Roger Copeland, who is also working on Nuance’s Temptation store for high-end watches, jewellery and sunglasses, which is set to open soon in the same terminal.
Manchester Airport Commercial Director Andrew Harrison told The Moodie Report he was “delighted with this stunning store”.
Hart paid a warm tribute to Manchester Airport Group’s contribution to the new boutique. “Without Manchester Airport’s help and expertise we could never have achieved anything like this,” he said, observing that the relationship between the two firms spanned some 15 years. They obviously worked well together – perhaps more so than in most such partnerships, as The Nuance Group CEO Europe Jean-Paul Bonnel and Harrison had previously worked together at Marks & Spencer’s flagship store in Paris. In fact a group of buyers and executives from Nuance and Manchester explored the department stores in the French capital to gather ideas on shop-in-shop execution and visual merchandising.
Striking exterior
The double-height exterior glass display pillars give the department store a dramatic frontage. Five mannequins, all immaculately turned out inside their glass pillars, remain outside the shutters even when the boutique is closed, so passengers can get a glimpse of the type of merchandise offered inside at all times. The use of mega-sized logos above the mannequins leaves passengers in no doubt that this is a fashion destination store.
The interior is single-height with low ceilings, but manages to achieve a Continental-style look and feel, brilliantly executed, in black, white, light grey and natural wood tones. The boutique feels exceptionally spacious, and the eyeline travels across the whole store with minimal obstruction, thanks to the effective use of mirrors and glass. The clever use of both lighting and mannequins showcases the merchandise to its maximum effect.
Several products are pulled out and glorified to great effect, using glass display cases on podiums, such as crystal-studded Bulgari sunglasses in the eyewear section, and Porsche Design’s mobile phone in the German brand’s shop-in-shop.
Plasma screens dotted around the store showcase some of the fashion collections from the catwalk, adding interest for shoppers. And significantly for the airport environment, flight screens are also much in evidence, so fashion-hungry passengers should never miss their flight, noted Hart.
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The double-height exterior glass display windows, designed by Roger Copeland, give the department store a dramatic appearance. The five mannequins inside the glass pillars remain outside the shutters when the boutique is closed |
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This view of the interior spans the start of the women’s section and captures the sheer size of the 835sq m store |
The department store is divided into three distinct areas – one for the men’s shop-in-shops, one for the women’s labels and an accessories section in the centre. Several of the brands are replicated in both men’s and women’s sections, including Hugo Boss.
The buying team’s background exploratory work is evident in the inclusion of Henri Lloyd, the Manchester-based brand of outerwear and casual nautical-inspired apparel, which offers travellers from outside the UK city an additional incentive to purchase (see pictures below).
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Destination merchandise: Henri Lloyd is a Manchester-based brand of outerwear and casual nautical-inspired apparel | |
ATTITUDE TAX FREE PICTURE SHOWCASE (photos provided by Manchester Airport Group):
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Hugo Boss enjoys a major presence, with two separate shop-in-shops: one for women (shown above) and one for men |
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Accessories from Hollywood celebrity Paris Hilton are positioned at an entry-level price point, to attract a wide audience |
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Tumi targets business travellers with luggage, bags, rucksacks and small travel accessories for men and women | |
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Bally has boosted its travel retail presence with this shop-in-shop carrying luxury handbags, accessories and luggage |
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The women’s section features Emporio Armani (top) and Escada (above left). Note the clever use of mannequins | |
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Porsche Design has engineered a man’s world of accessories where form meets function in a purist setting | |
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Samsonite Black Label’s cleverly designed detachable interior pouches are removed from the luggage and put on display |
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Montblanc tempts passengers with a shop-in-shop carrying a wide range of pens, leathergoods, watches and jewellery | |
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Jewellery brands are placed under glass and include leading brands DKNY and Fossil | |
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Watch brands include CK, Police, Breil and DKNY, all focusing on the mid-market fashion segment | |
The Moodie Report Comment
As well as being a milestone for The Nuance Group’s dedicated team, this new department store is a landmark for fashion brands as a whole in European airport retail. This 835sq m airside emporium is an impressive mix of mid- to upmarket brands in an alluring shop-in-shop format.
At the time of our visit, at lunchtime on 4 December, there was no sign of the credit-crunch cacophony of bright red discount signs that are blighting the British high street in the run-up to Christmas.
The retail execution – both exterior and interior – is strong, the store staff are friendly, approachable and knowledgeable, and there are some particularly memorable display touches. Inside Samsonite Black Label’s shop-in-shop, for example, interior pouches are removed from the inside of trolley bags and put on special display, so you can read the inscription inside them: “We hope you enjoying using this product”. The breadth of the fashion offer is truly impressive.
Commenting on the Porsche Design shop-in-shop, The Nuance Group’s UK GM Ian Hart joked: “The only thing you can’t buy here is the Porsche!” More of the same, please.
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