NORWAY. Travel Retail Norway today previewed Heinemann Duty Free’s new Arrivals shop at Oslo Airport, which opens at 05.40 tomorrow morning.
The Moodie Davitt Report was on hand to view the new store (operated under the Heinemann Duty Free brand through the joint venture company Travel Retail Norway) on the eve of the opening. We’ll bring you a much more detailed report tomorrow as the cover story in The Moodie Davitt e-Zine, together with video and further pictorial coverage.
At 4,000sq m when completed (3,500sq m in the first-phase opening, compared with 1,750sq m for its predecessor), the store is the largest duty free Arrivals shop in the world – and Norway’s biggest duty free store of any kind. The walk-through store will be accessible from two entry points (one open tomorrow, the other in October). It is a stand-out feature of the ambitious development of the new airport via an expansion of the existing terminal building and a new pier.
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The great Italian winemaker Masi must love this place – there seems to be more Masi wine here than in the whole of Verona. |
Travel Retail Norway will invest between NOK250 (US$30 million) and NOK300 million (US$36 million) in connection with the hugely ambitious expansion of the airport. The new Heinemann Duty Free shop in Arrivals will be completed in April 2017, when the completed new-look Oslo Airport opens.
Besides providing more than twice the space of the former store, Heinemann Duty Free has also introduced several new concepts. These include ‘Gifting’; ‘Eyes, Lips, Nails’; and ‘Men’s World’, as well as 700 new items and many additional Norwegian products.
Other talking points include more local and ‘ecological’ products; a designated area for Norway’s burgeoning micro-breweries; and a revamped check-out system with 43 cashier desks, up from the current 28.
Gebr Heinemann Director Retail Florian Seidel said: “Travel Retail Norway and Gebr Heinemann have grown together for more than ten years now. The outstanding partnership is based on close contact and commitment. We are now more than proud to present the next generation of Arrivals duty free – a shopping experience that will exceed the Norwegian and international traveller’s expectations.”
Håkon Fjeld-Hansen, Managing Director of Travel Retail Norway, told The Moodie Davitt Report: “We’re extremely proud of this shop, which we have been planning for more than three years.
“We are now able to have more products, more space for the customers, bigger walkways and more cash tills – it’s a really big step for us.
[Click on the arrow to hear Håkon Fjeld-Hansen on The Moodie Davitt Podcast]
“We have some new brands. We have 200 more wines, 150 more perfumes & cosmetics products, more micro-brewery beers and some new brands as well. We have added some Norwegian brands – Bad Norwegian is an exciting new brand for us; we have Jan Thomas and others. So we are trying to have a Norwegian footprint in the new shop.”
[Click on the icon above to view Martin Moodie’s first short film of the new store, focusing on the wines and tobacco areas.]
[Click on the icon above to view Martin Moodie’s second short film of the new store, focusing on the beauty and confectionery offers.]
[Click on the icon above to view Martin Moodie’s third short film of the new store, focusing on the spirits and beer offer.]
Speaking about the vast wine selection (around 700 different lines, an increase of around 200 on the former offer), Fjeld-Hansen said: “Wine is a very big part of the turnover when it comes to arrivals shopping. Good turnover demands good space and good brands.
“I’m really impressed about all the work we have done through the team at Travel Retail Norway and the support from Heinemann. I’m really excited to see what the customers will say as we have planned this in detail for a long, long time.”
You can hear more from Fjeld-Hansen on The Moodie Davitt Podcast on this page.
According to airport authority Avinor, duty free sales should increase by +3-7% following the expansion. Avinor said that its income from duty free constitutes “a large and important part” of the financing of Norway’s airports operated by Avinor.
Avinor Senior Vice President of Communications and Marketing Egil Thompson said: “The new store at the Arrivals area is a large and ambitious program of Travel Retail Norway, and the new offer is an important part of the commercial development of the improvement of Oslo Airport.
“Concurrently, while considering the design of the store, we were also aware that not everyone wants to shop. Broad aisles make it easy to pass by shopping zones, for those who want it.”
Look out for our big cover story tomorrow.
