BRAZIL. WHSmith and Duty Free Americas are to open seven stores at RIOgaleão Tom Jobim International Airport in August. The stores mark WHSmith’s entry into South America.
RIOgaleão is Rio de Janeiro’s main international airport and handles over 16 million passengers per year.
The stores will combine WHSmith’s latest store design – which aims to provide a “contemporary look and feel” – with elements of localisation reflecting Rio de Janeiro’s cultural status.
The stores will be located across international and domestic departures as well as the main entrance areas of the airport. They will offer a range of books, magazines, travel accessories, souvenirs, confectionery and drinks, with tailored ranges for RIOgaleão’s passengers and staff.
“Bringing strong international brands synonymous with their categories is key to our development strategy,” said RIOgaleão Head of Commercial Leandro Dantas. “We are therefore very pleased to be bringing WHSmith, with its highly recognisable international brand and expertise in news, books and convenience airport retailing to Brazil.
“We also welcome Duty Free Americas with their strong operational capability in this market as an important partner concessionaire to RIOgaleão. We recognised from their tender submission that a partnership between WHSmith and Duty Free Americas would provide a compelling combination of an international brand with a specialism in airport convenience retail and a local partner with market knowledge and a strong operating platform.
“We look forward to working with the team to open excellent stores which will appeal to our passengers and to revenue growth from the long term partnership to come.”
WHSmith International Chairman Louis de Bourgoing commented: “This is a significant win for us as we prepare to open our first stores in South America. We look forward to working with the team at RIOgaleão and to open seven stores in an airport with strong development plans and potential for passenger growth.
“We are also delighted to enter this new territory working in partnership with Duty Free Americas. As we continue to grow our international business, we are confident this will be the beginning of a long and successful partnership.”
Duty Free Americas President Leon Falic added: “We are looking forward to working with the teams from RIOgaleão and from WHSmith to open these seven specialist convenience stores. We believe the partnership with WHSmith opens up opportunities across the region.
“The Brazilian airport market alone has 140 million passengers and we believe our partnership will provide productive stores which will appeal to those passengers and create value for airport operators.”
