GREECE. Hellenic Duty Free Shops has confirmed the appointment of UK firm The Design Solution to design and develop a new duty free store at Athens International Airport.
Situated in the Schengen Departures concourse, the 210sq m mixed-category store will carry liquor, tobacco, confectionery and Greek delicacies.
“The existing shop has an unusual configuration that effectively splits it into two distinctive spaces,” said The Design Solution Associate Director Nick Taylor. “We studied how customers flowed around the existing shop and found that knots of people would form at various times, particularly around the cash desks which were located at the front facing into the store.
“Our approach was to endeavour to homogenise these two spaces and link them with the cash desks – with the goal of increasing overall footfall and retaining customers for longer periods,” he said.
The shop has been designed to be as open as possible, allowing customers to flow in from two sides.
Promotional towers at the entrances can be given over to concessionaires to promote their products. Each tower comprises an internally illuminated totem, which takes adjustable shelving, and a counter is available for tasting purposes.
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Situated in the Schengen Departures concourse, the store will carry liquor, tobacco, confectionery and Greek delicacies |
“Since there is a high level of personalisation in the shop, it was critical to create a generic design that is bold but neutral enough not to compete with the brands’ furniture. We achieved this through a curvaceous interior layout which maximised the back walls whilst creating a generic framework for brands’ furniture to plug-in,” Taylor added.
“To satisfy the retailers’ need to advertise, we have been moving towards using LED technology. This is a particularly powerful tool, providing eye-catching digital movement and multiple additional revenue streams for the retailers. In this case we incorporated a text-only LED drum, 3.0m in diameter, central to the Liquor and Tobacco zone of the shop and sitting above a dedicated promotions area,” he concluded.
The new duty free store is scheduled to open at the end of April.
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