CANADA. Windsor-Detroit Tunnel Duty Free Shop is to redesign, rebrand and upgrade its 13,500sq ft store, a move that it hopes will help it double sales in the next five years.
Vice President Abe Taqtaq told The Moodie Davitt Report that work would begin in early 2017 and be completed in around eight to ten months.
“One big focus is to increase sales per square foot in every corner, which means improving the flow-through of foot traffic. We want to make sure the entire space works better. As well as that, we are emphasising fragrances & cosmetics, fashion and jewellery & watches, where we know our next phase of growth can come from. P&C is around 22% of our business so that proportion can grow. Plus we have added new category managers for beauty and for fashion who can help drive the business.
“We have always been a strong sprits store and we know the limitations of tobacco. These remain important but those luxury categories will play a greater role for us than they did before.”
The new store will feature some customised areas for particular brands but will house much generic fixturing to allow for flexibility in the assortment and merchandising.
Taqtaq said: “The generic approach offers us the chance to work with new brands and react to market demand faster. That is another requirement of the project: any fixture in the store must be mobile.
“Our profile is mainly the US commuter, the repeat customer who crosses the border several times a week. Our busiest periods are 5.30am to 9am so that is the opportunity. For these people we are a department store and they want to see something new each time they travel. Trends come and go and we need to react.”
The retailer will create a new entrance and exit to encourage circulation, with P&C the first category that visitors will see. Taqtaq said: “We see an opportunity in colour cosmetics in particular. With treatments you can initiate a conversation through our staff and offer an experience.”
Travellers can then move through jewellery and fashion, with confectionery and spirits later in the journey, while elements such as a tasting bar will provide a stop point in the heart of the store.
“Also new are Cuban cigars. With the change in legislation in the US recently, allowing us to sell to US visitors, we just got our first shipment in. We have a large humidor we will include to support that. And we will link that category to high-end spirits to allow cross-selling.”
He added: “We will have many interactive, experiential elements to surprise people, with digital signage around the store to draw people in. We are also introducing a new coffee concept to complement the new retail design.”
Windsor-Detroit Tunnel Duty Free Shop last undertook a major renovation over a decade ago. And while there will be some impact from the renovation on sales, Taqtaq said the long-term looks bright.
“We are seeing strong growth that is directly linked to the exchange rate [US$1 to C$1.34 at time of writing -Ed], which has really increased the level of US traffic into the Windsor area. US visitors are 85% of our customers and around 90% of our revenues. It’s a good consumer to plan around, with strong average sales.
“We’ll maintain our growth and are about to hit the Christmas season, which is the busiest time of year. We’ll probably see a dip in basket sizes in the renovation period but we will bounce back. We run good loyalty campaigns so we’ll plan activity around that too.
“We have confidence that this upgrade will benefit us greatly. We believe we can double sales in the next five years. We have seen some declines over the past ten years but that means there is room to grow.”
