Introduction: Altavia’s recent acquisition of retail design and project management agency Sina Retail & Image (Sina Retail) will provide brands, travel retailers and airports with a much-enhanced proposition across multiple geographies, the two partners told The Moodie Davitt Report Founder & Chairman Martin Moodie in an exclusive interview just after the deal was announced in early May.
Speaking during the TFWA Asia Pacific Exhibition, Sina Retail Founder Xavier van Gaver and Altavia Travel Retail Global Managing Director Hugo Vanderschaegh said the alliance offers a compelling win/win scenario.
Sina Retail, a specialist China company, founded in 2009 by van Gaver, has bases in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Guangzhou and Hainan.
Altavia, founded in 1983 by Raphaël Palti, its Chairman and CEO, offers an array of commercial activation solutions to the retail industry. The company is present in 45 countries on four continents, supporting more than 500 retail brands and stores.
Altavia says the deal strengthens its presence in China and across the travel retail and luxury arenas.
Sina Retail specialises in the cosmetics, beauty, fragrances, wine & spirits and accessories sectors, serving as a one-stop agency for creative and innovative turnkey solutions. Its star-studded client base includes Dior, Guerlain, Givenchy, Benefit, Shiseido, Clé de Peau, Nars, Jurlique, Augustinus Bader, Essilor Luxottica and Rémy Cointreau.
Commenting on the rationale behind the deal, Vanderschaegh says: “The Chinese traveller was very important before the pandemic and is still very, very important as that [sector] is going to grow in the coming year.
“So for us, it was very important that we grow our understanding of and our expertise with the Chinese traveller. And to do so by working with Sina Retail was a no brainer, because Xavier has been here for 25 years.
“And when we work with our clients that are either airport operators, duty free operators or brands, in every brief – whether in Asia, the Middle East or Europe – we talk about this Chinese traveller.
“So this is an expertise we now have in-house, thanks to this merger. That is the first part.
{Click on the podcast icon to hear highlights of the interview with Xavier van Gaver and Hugo Vanderschaegh}
“The second part is we wanted to have a strong foothold here in Asia. With Xavier being in both Hong Kong and Shanghai, it offered two key locations where we wanted to be located to continue growing our services both to our existing clients and to those in this region as well.”
Van Gaver adds: “There are two reasons behind the merger with Altavia. First of all, most of my customers have been asking me over the years to expand from the Greater China region to other markets.
“I’m doing more and more projects in Australia, Japan, even Hawaii and Indonesia. So, of course, the fact that Altavia has been doing business in so many different markets, with offices in Europe and in many different markets, is a big asset for me also.”
He continues: “One of the main challenges today in retail is that it is becoming very complex. You need to integrate digital media into the experience. And there is also the pace of renovation. Pop-up stores are a very good example… they are becoming a very important part of our activities at Sina Retail.
“This totally changes things. Before, most of the brands normally had a permanent concept for five years. That’s been reduced, especially because of digital and also because the Chinese consumers get bored very quickly by anything. They are open to new things constantly.
“So this kind of pace and the need for different skills in a very short time frame is also becoming a need of most of my customers today.
“The idea [with the partnership] is that because Altavia has a lot of talent all over the world in many different business units – and in travel retail specifically – we are going to integrate the digital experience of Altavia Group to the creative and project management skills and retail expertise of Sina Retail.”
The Hainan offshore duty free market will remain a key focus for the combined group, Van Gaver emphasises, noting Sina Retail was an early pioneer in the island province, having opened offices in Haikou and Sanya.
“A big bunch of the Chinese population will still need to go to Hainan for the next 20 years and so we are going to keep our foothold and keep expanding. We keep having high demands from my existing customers to develop their operations even further in Hainan.”
Asked to describe his sentiments on selling the company he founded, van Gaver replies: “I already knew Altavia many years ago. I was always interested by their passion for retail. And… over the last 25 years, I’ve been really into the retail industry. So I thought even a few years ago they could be a match.
“I’m proud of the fact that I could bring to Altavia a stronghold, thanks to my Greater China experience – because I’ve been living in Beijing, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Shanghai.
“I really believe that there’s a great match. I’m also proud for my team – it’s not only me, it’s a whole team behind me. Some of them have been working with me since the beginning of the company. I think there will be a lot of opportunities for the whole team to grow further.” {Interview continues following the panel below}
A long-time China focusXavier van Gaver has lived and breathed China for much of the past 38 years. He first visited the country as a student in 1985, after his mother took up what would turn out to be a 20-year post with a French company in Beijing. “China has been in my DNA ever since,” he noted in an interview with The Moodie Davitt Report in 2021.
“I’ve been exposed to the Chinese world from that date, and I have seen the tremendous evolution of this country, and I’m still amazed by the pace of change.” Van Gaver’s business is all about understanding consumer dynamics, an insight nurtured from years of experience. After completing his studies, he took up a role with financial services group Société Générale in Beijing in 1993 before joining French beauty products house L’Oréal three years later – the company’s first employee in China with a representative office in Beijing. “I had an amazing chance when I was 28 to create a concept that was then unique for China for an international brand,” he recalled. “It was a department store counter concept for mass-market brands. It was very smart, because at the time it was a way to sell these brands at a high rather than low-grade level.” A decade at L’Oréal saw him take charge of international merchandising for the same Consumer Products Division and gain experience in some 40 markets around the world, from the Americas to Europe and Asia. But after General Management positions in Russia and Taiwan, it was Mainland China that gripped him and in 2009 van Gaver decided to create his own business. Sina Retail’s mission from the start was to help international brands, mainly but not exclusively in beauty, develop their retail concepts within China. The company has fulfilled that mission with outstanding success, a performance well noted by Altavia. Now the new entity plans to take that success to a whole new level. |
Vanderschaegh says Altavia plans to build on Sina Retail’s strengths rather than change the way it operates. “Whenever we meet with clients of Xavier here, everybody is saying, ‘Okay, but I want to make sure that Xavier is still my point of contact, because I cherish this relationship with Sina Retail.’ And absolutely, Altavia Group has no intention to break this.
“It’s about continuity and support of the Sina Retail business, rather than trying to centralise things, which I don’t think is really the best way to go.
“Definitely the way we approach this kind of merger and acquisition is very entrepreneurial. The group is still run by the founder [Raphaël Palti] and is a family business. What is really great when you join with Altavia is that they keep the entrepreneurial spirit in any business they acquire.
“And that makes it very dynamic and reactive to things. I think the match is perfect, because from a business point of view and a cultural point of view, there is a very good match with Xavier and also with the entrepreneurship of Altavia Group.”
Vanderschaegh points out that Altavia Group had started out by working exclusively with brands but then rapidly developed relationships and projects with duty free and food & beverage operators and airports.
“With that journey we have been on for the past 15 years, we really look forward to doing the same in Asia with Xavier. He has a background in store design and retail strategy for retail. So we want to keep growing the portfolio of services to the brands and also to the other players of the industry.”
“It’s very exciting,” says van Gaver. “Altavia is a very entrepreneurial group. And they believe in the agility and the flexibility that is absolutely necessary in this fast-moving Asian world.
“I also see a very big opportunity to go beyond the existing core of our business that has been beauty for many years. Now it will also include confectionery and alcohol because they are big categories for Altavia.
“A big trend in luxury is that the China MDs for many luxury brands no longer report into Asia, they report directly into headquarters. I like to play the role of a bridge – reassuring brand headquarters that I will keep their brand DNA while I also help the Chinese managers forward some messages to HQ about the need to adapt some concepts to the Chinese consumers.”
Van Gaver notes a “huge trend” in the global luxury sector in that new retail concepts are largely being driven from Asia. “They are first implemented here, firstly because of the opportunity of new space and secondly due to the opportunity to target the fast-growing and demanding Chinese consumer base which is so important for luxury brands.
“So if you have been the agency or partner, creating or implementing those concepts, then you have a competitive edge and you can do a worldwide roll-out. Altavia Group is now in 45 different markets, so we will be able to implement these new concepts that we started here and then integrate them very quickly. This is my vision.”
Van Gaver says the name of his company is particularly apposite in that content. “Sina. It means everything is coming from China. That was my belief 25 years ago and I am happy to see it coming through even further today.” ✈
