USA. Duty Free Americas (DFA) is set to begin an ambitious programme of store investment at Miami International Airport that will run through 2019. This will transform most of its key locations across the North and South terminals.
The company, which runs 19 stores at the airport from core category duty free to luxury boutiques, revealed its plans to The Moodie Davitt Report on a tour of the airport this week. The major projects cover duty free stores in concourses D (two), F and H, while there are also plans to develop several multi-brand outlets across several categories (see below).
With a pan-airport contract that runs to 2024, as we reported last year, the company pledged to invest US$17 million in enhancing the offer and experience for shoppers. Central to the project will be providing additional space for fragrances & cosmetics (which together account for around 55% of the business at Miami Airport), liquor & tobacco and confectionery. In some stores the fashion & accessories offer will be reduced or moved to multi-brand outlets in the coming months.
Duty Free Americas Co-owner Jerome Falic said: “We are renovating four of the biggest shops, closing down the stores and transforming them inside, with new space for brands and creating a different experience. Our view is that what happens in Miami can become the template for other stores across our airport network.”
UK-based JHP Design planned the stores in partnership with DFA. Work begins on the first stores in February.
In the North Terminal, which handles American Airlines and One World carriers and which accounts for around 65% of DFA’s sales, several stores will be transformed.
The first major store in around 6,000sq ft in concourse D will see its entranceway moved and opened out to allow for improved access and visibility. Cosmetics and fragrances will feature to the left as travellers enter, with liquor to the right. A new sunglasses ‘cave’ will be developed to bring this category to the fore, while other luxury brands will be removed.
Several pillars in the main passenger flow will come down and the small back entrance will be widened. A big promotional zone will be created at the heart of the store, with increased personalisation for many brands. There will be a renewed emphasis on digitalisation too. This project should be completed by mid-May, said DFA.
At the company’s North Terminal flagship, the entrance will be fully opened and space inside made available for other categories by removing the luxury goods offer. Spirits will gain significant space, while the left of the store will remain occupied by P&C but with increased personalisation and a series of fixtures dedicated to particular beauty brands located in the store centre.
Space will be created to showcase high-end, niche fragrances, while confectionery’s presence will be boosted in a zone close to the cash tills. This project should be completed by year end.
A further core category duty free store in the central walkway in North Terminal , D concourse will remain structurally the same but will undergo some refurbishment and category upgrades, notably in beauty.
Close by a new store will open by around mid-year housing Kiehl’s and Urban Decay. Unlike most of the core category duty free stores, this will be able to sell beauty to domestic as well as international travellers.
Other DFA stores in this area include the striking Johnnie Walker House, opened last year, Polo Ralph Lauren and Montblanc, which are each performing well, said the retailer.
In a further project in the North Terminal, another new store will open close to gate D30, featuring Dior, Lancôme and Armani, by around mid-2019.
In the South Terminal, where spend is dominated by Latin American travellers, the company also plans a series of big projects this year.
A stand-alone confectionery store, opened last year with temporary fixturing to replace a fashion outlet, has performed well and will become a permanent addition. It will be upgraded with new branding and with personalised space for leading brands, in a development planned for the next two months.
In the main store in this zone will be entirely upgraded, with a new, wider entrance and liquor gaining significant space as luxury brands are removed. P&C will be the focus of the other half of the store with a new confectionery zone to be added in the centre.
Like others, this store will close for renovations in coming months with reopening scheduled for around the end of the year.
Further down the South Terminal, a temporary liquor store along the walkway will be upgraded and extended to add new brands. Spirits will move here from an adjacent core category store (with one of the highest sales per square foot of any in the airport), which will in turn be remodelled; P&C space will be upgraded with more personalisation, and confectionery will also benefit.
Miami International Airport passed the 45 million-passenger mark for the first time in 2018, nearly one million more than in the previous year.
*More news on DFA’s investments across its network will appear soon, with a major on location report and interviews with the owners coming soon.
