New wave of Brazilian border shops planned for coming months

LATIN AMERICA. Duty free retailers will open nine new stores inside Brazilian territory in coming months, it was revealed at this week’s Latin American border store conference (Encuentro de Frontera), held virtually.

The two-day event, first hosted in 2019, discussed the opportunities for this fledgling duty free channel in Brazil, and was organised by South American Duty Free Association ASUTIL and CEFSU, the Chamber of Uruguayan Free Shop Operators.

Of the new stores currently in the “implementation phase” according to organisers, six are located in the Rio Grande do Sul region, two in Paraná (Foz do Iguaçu) and one in Rondonia (Guajará-Mirim).

Building a fledgling channel: The stores by location and retailer that are in the “implementation phase” on the Brazilian frontier; below, existing operations along the border

In Rio Grande do Sul, three stores will be run by Brasil Free Shop (in São Borja, Quaraí and Barra do Quaraí), two by New York Free Shop (one store in Uruguaiana, another in Barra do Quaraí) and a further store by Da Barra Duty Shop in Barra do Quaraí.

Duty Free Americas and Liberty will open stores at the popular border crossing close to the Iguacu Falls, while Top Internacional will open the store at Guajará-Mirim.

These new stores will complement the 12 already open in the region (see chart above), which include seven in Uruguaiana, plus one each in Jaguarão, Porto Xavier, Barra do Quaraí, Porto Mauá and Paraná.

As previously reported, legislation allows 33 Brazilian cities to open border duty free stores on the Brazilian side of the borders with neighbouring states.

Another key development is the extension of the duty free allowance for individuals from Brazil from US$300 to US$500, which takes effect from December. From 1 January 2020, the duty free allowance for travellers entering Brazil via a land border increased to US$500 (and for air travellers from US$500 to US$1,000); the latest update permits Brazilians to also take advantage of the higher allowance.

ASUTIL Secretary-General José Luis Donagaray said: “That has an impact with the opportunity to increase spending on many categories. This will change the mix and the average ticket we believe. We see electronics benefiting in particular, including white goods.”

More on this week’s event to follow in The Moodie Davitt eZine.

ASUTIL President Gustavo Fagundes and CEFSU President Andrés Mendelsohn welcome virtual delegates on behalf of the joint organisers

As reported, ASUTIL and International Association of Airport Duty Free Stores (IAADFS) will host the 2021 Summit of the Americas as a virtual event on 5-9 April. It is being organised in partnership with The Moodie Davitt Report (which recently hosted the acclaimed Virtual Travel Retail Expo) as an innovative, user-friendly, and cost-efficient virtual event.

Click on the link for more information on becoming and exhibitor, attending as a visitor or partnering with The Moodie Davitt Report as official media title.

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