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Dallas/Fort Worth is another major stepping stone in the DFASS mission to become a truly diverse airport-to-airline travel retailer | |
US. There’s a new name in US duty free – Buckaroo. But behind it there’s an established one. The Duty Free Air & Ship Supply (DFASS)-led partnership has scored an impressive coup by landing the Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) duty free contract, one of a host of retail, services and food & beverage awards announced last Friday.
Buckaroo Duty Free’s contract is in International Terminal D – DFW’s spectacular new two million sq ft facility which is scheduled to open in summer 2005. All international flights will operate out of the new terminal.
Approximately 100,000sq ft of this space has been set aside for concession areas, including duty free, specialist retail and food & beverage operations. The current duty free concessionaire is DFS Group.
The duty free contract runs for ten years and the DFASS-led Buckaroo will run two stores, totalling 11,000sq ft. The retailer will sell a complete duty free range, including liquor, cosmetics, fragrances, jewellery, food, leathergoods and high-end fashion.
The Moodie Report estimates current annual sales for the duty free contract, which is presently spread over several terminals, to be around US$15 million. But this should go a lot higher with the new integrated facilities.
DFASS President Bernard (“˜Benny’) Klepach told The Moodie Report that he was delighted with the news. “We’ve got a very good cross-section of minority partners with us and we believe the airport has great further retail potential,” he said.
The contract strengthens the Miami-based company’s position even further in the US travel retail market. Historically DFASS has been a major force in the inflight supply and retail market, but in recent years has built up a solid portfolio of airport retail operations.
Duty free is just one aspect in a huge development of the airport’s commercial services. Airport officials plan 58 shops and restaurants clustered in two main “˜villages’, each with unique colour schemes and distinguishable architectural features. The villages will be built around a main street and several avenues. There will be two levels of shopping, dining and entertainment outlets, all of which will be located close to the boarding gates.
Besides the duty free award, DFW has unveiled an unprecedented package of concessionaires which will operate 49 restaurants, retail and service shops in the new International Terminal D when it opens in 2005.
The approved retailers and F&B will operate under such internationally-renowned names as Fossil, Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream, Bachendorf’s Fine Jewelry, Landau & Bocelli Fashion Accessories, T.G.I. Friday’s, Bennigan’s, Jazzman’s Café, Simply Books and Starbucks Coffee.
The terminal will also feature popular local and regional choices such as MallaSadi Men’s Boutique, Chammps Sports Bar, La Duni Latin Kitchen, Cool River Café, Blue Mesa Café, Reata Grill, Cantina Laredo, Cousin’s Bar-B-Q and Railhead Smokehouse BBQ.
“Our new International Terminal D will not only be the most technologically advanced and customer-friendly terminal on the planet, it will also be a paradise for shoppers and diners,” said Max Wells, Chairman of the DFW Board. “Terminal D will empower DFW to become the premiere international gateway for the US and continue to grow the economic engine of North Texas for the benefit of all. These concessionaires offer a global and Texas flair that will make a first, lasting and positive impression of our region for millions of international visitors.”
The new International Terminal D will also contain new locations for two very popular DFW retail innovations, La Bodega Winery and the DFW TravelMart. La Bodega is the world’s only airport winery, and the TravelMart became the world’s first airport convenience store when it opened earlier this year.
At a special meeting today, DFWs Board of Directors approved a diverse group of 30 firms that completed an eight-month selection process before winning a bid. The airport said it far exceeded its stated goal of minority participation, with 93% of the approved vendors for Terminal D having greater than 35% participation of minority- or women-owned enterprises.
The airport also achieved a high degree of participation from North Texas businesses, with 77% of the winning bids coming from locally-owned vendors. The newly-approved line-up of concessionaires includes 15 firms already doing business at DFW, eight others which are new joint ventures with existing concessionaires, and seven firms that are new to the airport.
“DFW’s strategic business commitment to bringing local and minority- and women-owned businesses to our airport to service and assist our passengers hits an even higher standard with today’s announcement,” said DFW CEO Jeff Fegan. “We want our airport to represent our community and to be as diverse as our international passengers. We are proud to represent North Texas to the world and showcase our great local businesses and entrepreneurs.”
The concessionaires which won bids to operate in DFW’s International Terminal D are expected to see gross sales of more that $86,000,000 in their first full year of operation, and will provide a significant contribution to the non-aviation revenues of the airport. As with existing vendors, all International Terminal D vendors will provide products and services with pricing no more than 10% above “street” levels.
There is a total of 60 retail spaces available in Terminal D, but only 49 of them were awarded on Friday. The remaining 11 spaces will be filled in the coming months.
The full list of awards is as follows:
Retailers:
Bachendorf’s Fine Jewelry – 1 unit
Buckaroo Duty Free – 2 units
Dallas Cowboys Pro Shop – 1 unit
DFW TravelMart – 2 units
Fossil – 2 units
InMotion Pictures – 2 units
La Bodega Winery – 1 unit
Landau & Bocelli – 2 units
MallaSadi Men’s Boutique – 1 unit
Mindworks – 1 unit
PGA Tour Shop – 1 unit
Simply Books / Starbucks Coffee – 1 multi unit
Southwest News – 2 units
Stellar News – 2 units
Wall Street News – 2 units
Foreign exchange services:
Travelex Currency Exchange – 3 units
Food & Beverage
Au Bon Pain – 2 units
Auntie Anne’s Pretzels – 2 units
Ben & Jerry’s – 2 units
Bennigan’s – 1 unit
Blue Bamboo Xpress – 1 unit
Blue Mesa Café – 1 unit
Camille’s Sidewalk Café – 2 units
Cantina Laredo / Cool River Café – 1 multi unit
Chammps – 1 unit
Cousin’s Bar-B-Q – 1 unit
Jazzman’s Café – 1 unit
La Duni Latin Café – 1 unit
Popeye’s – 1 unit
Railhead Smokehouse BBQ / Fuddrucker’s / Einstein Bros. / 360° Burrito – 1 multi unit
McDonald’s – 1 unit
Reata Grill – 1 unit
T.G.I. Friday’s – 1 unit
Tigin Irish Pub – 1 unit
About International Terminal D
International Terminal D is a two million sq ft complex capable of handling 37,000 passengers daily or 12.8 million passengers annually. The new terminal is part of a US$2.7 billion, five-year Capital Development Programme at DFW. In addition the programme includes an integrated 298-room Grand Hyatt Hotel and the world’s largest airport high-speed train, Skylink, as well as runway expansion and infrastructure improvements. The expansion projects are expected to generate an estimated US$34 billion impact on the North Texas economy and create 77,000 new jobs during the next 15 years.
MORE STORIES ON DFASS
Judge rules against Atlanta duty free award; contract re-bid seems likely – 24/10/04
Atlanta council blocks retail start-up but DFASS upbeat – 03/06/04
DFASS delighted with Atlanta duty free ruling – 21/04/04
DFASS Group selected by Air Canada for duty free concession – 07/04/04
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