GERMANY. In big breaking news, Gebr Heinemann and Fraport have struck a deal to create a new joint venture that will run Frankfurt Airport’s 27 duty free and Travel Value stores from 1 January.
The joint venture is named Frankfurt Airport Retail GmbH & Co. KG” (FAR) and each partner has a 50% share.
Fraport Senior Executive Vice President Retail and Real Estate Karl-Heinz Dietrich said: “Thanks to the close cooperation and bundled expertise, we expect to further strengthen the retail business at Frankfurt Airport. With this decision, Fraport is taking on a portion of the commercial risk. This also opens up an opportunity for us for more profound value creation.”
Gebr Heinemann will take all of its 750 Frankfurt Airport employees into the new company. Existing employment contracts will remain valid.
The management of the new company will be taken on by Johannes Sammann (Gebr Heinemann) and Georg Fuhrmann (Fraport AG). Since 2012 Sammann has been responsible for the retail management of the Heinemann Duty Free shops at Frankfurt Airport. Fuhrmann, a retail expert, was previously responsible for commercial retail management at Frankfurt Airport.
The partners said they would introduce a new online reservation and extended home delivery option for travellers.
The partners noted: “Passengers can order all goods online before their journey and have them delivered to their homes. Heinemann already knows about the interests of around 500,000 members of their customer excitement programme Heinemann & Me. The new platform enables FAR to build joint customer data to further optimise the travel retail experience according to customers’ needs.
Gebr Heinemann Executive Director Retail and HR Raoul Spanger said: “The joint venture paves the way to react jointly and optimally to future developments in the international travel retail market and to the changing needs and demands of travellers, including the flourishing area of e-commerce.
“To Fraport we are connected by an outstanding, long-term collaboration that has existed since 1972 and has consistently been based on innovation, and we are delighted to be able to continue on with this in the highly promising joint venture.”
