Kiehl’s opens vintage-style store in Bangkok Airport – 05/10/09

THAILAND. L’Oréal Luxury Products Division-owned Scental Travel Retail Asia Pacific has teamed up with King Power International Group to open a new Kiehl’s boutique in Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport.

Established in 1851 as an old-world apothecary in New York’s East Village neighbourhood, Kiehl’s has posted strong growth in Asia Pacific travel retail despite the financial crisis, Scental said. It is already achieving more than US$2 million in sales every month within its distribution network, which includes six airport boutiques, two downtown shops and one airline.

Scental Division Manager Emmanuel Goulin said: “With Kiehl’s being already quite strong in Thailand’s local market with four points of sale, it was about time to launch our seventh airport boutique in Bangkok International Airport, one of the busiest and most strategic airports in Asia.

“This project also proves once again the quality of the partnership between Scental and King Power International Group.

“King Power International Group has indeed been very open-minded and co-operative since the beginning of this project by understanding the very specific merchandising requirements of the brand and by offering to Kiehl’s a fully personalised 26.3sq m boutique in a very premium location that is capturing 100% of the traffic.”

Opened on 30 September, the new Kiehl’s boutique occupies prime space in Bangkok International Airport and features several thematic elements unique to the brand, including the signature skeleton “˜Mr Bones’ and vintage photographs


Aiming to communicate the values and experience of the flagship New York store, the new Kiehl’s boutique in Bangkok Airport features several thematic elements unique to Kiehl’s.

These include “˜Mr Bones’, the signature skeleton who represents the company’s traditions in medicine and pharmacology; a stunt plane which has been the hallmark of the Kiehl’s spirit dating back to the late 1970s; a Statue of Liberty in a pop art style which stands for Kiehl’s roots from New York City; and vintage photographs of the old-world pharmacy in the East Village and its founders.

Also showcased in the new store, which opened on 30 September, is a baby cork board on which customers are invited to post photos of their “˜Kiehl’s babies’. Antique apothecary jars, objects and toys, as well as an elegant chandelier, further adorn the retail space.

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