GERMANY. German distributor and retailer BERetail is plotting a major upgrade of the duty free shop that it runs at Dresden Airport. It will open with its refreshed BEDutyfree brand in March.
BERetail Partner Frank Pieper told The Moodie Davitt Report: “The shop’s guiding principle is ‘Saxony. Future through Origin.’ German and regional brands, which can also come from abroad, will be given a lot of space.”
As an example, Pieper said the share of German brands in the confectionery segment will be about 80%.
“It is important to us to give a stage to manufacturers that are less well known nationally and internationally because they position themselves in a local niche. This also makes sense for us, because the products we offer are not available at all airports,” Pieper said.
The brand line-up will include 4711 Acqua Colonia, Panier des Sens and Annemarie Börlind; “all fine brands with enormous regional significance,” Pieper added. Wines from the Saxon State Winery Schloss Wackerbarth will feature, as will herbal liqueur Jägermeister.
Other brand partnerships include those with Ian Macleod and Mercedes-Benz perfumes, alongside leading international names in P&C.
Pieper said that clever use of the space would double the volume of goods offered in the store. “This will make Dresden Airport much more attractive as a business location,” he noted.
In other news, BERetail is targeting travel retail and F&B with its Johannas Colonialwaren concept, which first opened in Dresden’s Neumarkt area.
With a ‘simple but good’ motto, Johannas Colonialwaren can build a presence at German airports by combining retail and gastronomy to offer Sense of Place and Sense of Taste, said the company.
The concept takes its name from Johanna Schmitt, the grandmother of BERetail Managing Director Martin Enk-Pieper.
According to Frank Pieper, Johanna was born in 1918, “a time when old values were still valued and regionality was a matter of course”.
Her ‘simple but good’ saying provided a guideline in the “hand-made, down-to-earth, honest” product range development.
“Since nostalgia is currently one of the major hot topics of our time we adapted the concept of colonial stores of the late 19th or early 20th century to modern times, with the idea of enjoying Dresden as our guiding principle,” Pieper said.
The Dresden restaurant highlights local dishes such as potato pancakes from the Ore Mountains and ‘Beffsteck’. Its retail line-up includes wines from Schloss Wackerbarth and freshly-ground coffee from a local roaster, along with Spreewald jams and Johannas Finest Chocolate.
The outlet’s staff members wear colonial-style white blouses, black trousers and embroidered, floor-length brown aprons.
“The art is to transfer the values of the past into the future,” Pieper added.
Pieper said Johannes Colonialwaren was designed with airport dining and retail in mind and aimed to offer regional goods and cuisine at a fair price-performance ratio.
