UK. Puig-owned British fragrance house Penhaligon’s has partnered with Dufry (World Duty Free) to open a new standalone boutique in Heathrow Airport Terminal 5.
The Moodie Davitt Report Brands Editor & Digital Marketing Manager Hannah Tan-Gillies was on location for the official opening of the vibrant boutique.
The ribbon-cutting ceremony was attended by Puig Vice President Global Travel Retail Kaatje Noens, Dufry UK Head of Beauty Category Delphine Poultney; Dufry UK Regional Category Manager Wesley Beresford; World Duty Free Product Manager Natalie Joy Regan; Heathrow Airport Retail Account Manager Elaine Sears and Word Duty Free Terminal Manager Jonathan Wright.
The 20sq m space is the brand’s first in Europe travel retail. It was launched in line with Dufry’s strategy to offer elevated retail experiences that bring joy to customers as they travel.
The boutique was designed to offer a multi-sensory shopping experience. Customers are drawn in by a fragrance diffuser which fills the space with the Penhaligon’s signature Halfeti scent. Once inside, they are immersed in the Penhaligon’s brand universe through interactive and quirky merchandising elements.
The striking boutique offers three of Penhaligon’s best-selling lines: Portraits, Trade Routes and British Tales. In addition to fragrances, the boutique offers a selection of candles, bath & body products and gift sets. Notably, it also offers a Heathrow-exclusive scent called Brilliantly British.
A worldwide exclusive, Brilliantly British is a lavender and salted caramel fragrance that comes in a flaçon with a Union Jack ribbon around the neck.
The British Tales collection pays homage to historic British traditions and stories, with Blenheim Bouquet as the oldest fragrance in the collection. Blenheim Bouquet is brand founder William Penhaligon’s first-ever fragrance. It was created for the Duke of Marlborough and offers lemon, lavender and pine notes. Blenheim Bouquet is celebrating its 120th anniversary this year.
The Portraits range tells the fascinating story of an imagined aristocratic family, with each fragrance depicting the profile of a character in the family. Trade Routes is described as ‘an olfactory adventure around the world’ and is made with rich olfactory ingredients.
The dazzling boutique is a showcase for several of Penhaligon’s beauty tech innovations. Highlights include the Magic Monocle digital fragrance discovery tool and a fragrance profiling tool which can be accessed via iPad in-store. Customers can access the Magic Monocle tool by taking a picture of the QR code on the fragrance bottles in-store. It displays key fragrance information and highlights related products available in-store which match the customer’s preferences.
The store also offers premium gifting options and personalisation. Customers can engrave their bottles with their choice of motif and personalise their purchases with Penhaligon’s gift boxes, multi-coloured ribbons, gift tags and bespoke messages.
Click on the video above to watch our exclusive on location coverage of the Penhaligon’s opening in Heathrow
According to Noens, Heathrow Terminal 5 was chosen to honour Penhaligon’s British heritage. “It is fitting that we are delivering such a vibrant, engaging Penhaligon’s experience at the gateway to the city where the brand’s story began,” she said.
“Heathrow T5 epitomises the unique platform offered by travel retail to engage with global audiences and bring iconic brands like Penhaligon’s to life. We are delighted to partner once again with Dufry and Heathrow as we look to grow the niche fragrance category.
“Our partnership with Heathrow and Dufry has been amazing,” Noens added. “They gave us the opportunity to open a full shop-in-shop in a very high-profile location and it ties in nicely with our limited-distribution niche fragrance strategy. This store offers the same customer experience as a Penhaligon’s boutique in the domestic market.
“Travellers can explore the full portfolio, discover their favourite scents through the Magic Monocle tool, engrave their bottles and personalise their packaging.”
The sentiment was echoed by Poultney who said: “Our strong partnership with Puig has enabled us to deliver the ultimate experience for travellers in line with our strategy, through playful digital elements, an exclusive sense of place with our ‘Brilliantly British’ product and a fully personalised experience for Heathrow’s passengers.”
Beresford added, “Penhaligon’s is a quintessential British brand; a must visit location when travelling through Heathrow Terminal 5, and if the scented fragrance diffuser doesn’t draw customers’ nostrils to the store, the quirky, disruptive and eye-catching execution certainly will.”
Commenting on the Brilliantly British Heathrow exclusive fragrance, Noens said: “We wanted to do something special and unique for Heathrow and so we brought back Brilliantly British as a Heathrow exclusive, because it is the home airport of the Penhaligon’s brand.”
Notably, Puig has already surpassed 2019 sales levels, partially due to the strength of its niche fragrance portfolio and its limited distribution strategy. Penhaligon’s — one of the family-owned fragrance company’s most popular niche fragrance brands — has a streamlined network of only 50 doors in global travel retail.
“The limited distribution strategy is all about staying true to our DNA,” Noens explained. “We are looking at the doors where we feel like we should go rather than expanding to a vast network. We are doubling down on the uniqueness and exclusivity of the brand. Within that network, airports are very important to us. Our strategy is to keep growing the business through existing doors and make big strides into enhancing the shopping experience.
Puig, Heathrow and Dufry have partnered for many blockbuster openings over the years, underlining their powerful Trinity partnership. “We’ve had a historically strong partnership with Dufry and Heathrow. This was further bolstered when COVID hit as we didn’t abandon the channel despite the obvious difficulties. Today, we continue to double down on travel retail as a core element of our growth.
“As a family-owned company, we are thinking long term. Most passengers are back now and we’re really leveraging the strength and beauty of our brand portfolio, building equity, storytelling and conversion. At Puig, we love a challenge. We’re always pushing the boundaries and that’s how we keep our partnerships going. The results are there. We’re above 2019 levels and gaining market share across all brands and regions.”
According to Noens, travel retail plays a dual role. “More than ever, travel retail is a brand builder channel that brings more engagement and therefore more conversion. We are making significant investments in shop-in-shops like this one and boosting our permanent fixtures. In addition to the Penhaligon’s boutique, we have also launched Carolina Herrera makeup here in Terminal 5. We do this because as consumer demand evolves, it is our job to make sure that we can address it.”
