Relay set to make Dutch debut after Lagardère Travel Retail wins seven-store rail contract

NETHERLANDS. NS Stations, which owns and manages over 400 rail stations in the Netherlands, has awarded Lagardère Travel Retail the contract to operate seven Relay travel essentials stores across its network. These will be the first Relay stores to open in the Dutch market. The award builds on the retailer’s presence in duty free & fashion and food & beverage across airport and rail channels in the country.

The offer will include travel essentials, books, magazines, gifts and destination merchandise, tailored by location, according to the retailer.

The first four stores will open in September at Rotterdam Centraal station (two branches), Amsterdam Centraal and Breda. In the Autumn, The Hague and Delft will follow and at the beginning of 2022 a second location will open at Amsterdam Centraal.

Relay unveiled a new concept and branding last year; pictured is Nantes Atlantique Airport

NS Stations said the move would represent “a wonderful expansion of our offer at the stations with which we continuously respond to the wishes of our travellers”.

Lagardère TR Nederland CEO Allan Henrich said: “We are pleased to have been selected to bring our globally renowned Relay brand to travellers at Dutch stations and to have the opportunity to further develop the collaboration we have with NS Stations. We adapt the shops to the Dutch traveller and his needs by adding a gift range that surprises and inspires in addition to everything you can expect in the field of reading.”

Lagardère Travel Retail has built a strong presence in the Dutch market in recent years. In 2019 it took over the operation of 28 Smullers fast food outlets across Dutch railway stations. In late 2013 it struck a deal to acquire the Gerzon fashion business at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, taking over the stores in 2014.

Frédéric Chevalier: Latest contract gain underlines importance of managing multiple business lines

Speaking to The Moodie Davitt Report after the announcement, Lagardère Travel Retail COO EMEA Frédéric Chevalier said: “The award is a very nice achievement for the company and our strong local team. NS Stations organised a competitive tender for seven stores in some of their biggest stations, in what is an important national rail market. We are very happy to introduce Relay to the Netherlands and it’s an exciting opportunity.”

On how Relay would be adapted to the market, he added: “With Relay, we have a versatile concept. That’s in the DNA of the brand, and we have always challenged what we do in the search for improvement. We made a big investment last year to evolve the brand further. There is the traditional DNA of Relay on one hand, but for many years we have been layering other categories on top, from consumer electronics to health and wellness. Flexibility is built into the concept and that is necessary for the client and the customer.

“In the Netherlands, the team locally will build what is demanded by the local clientele. So it will be adapted to the precise needs of the consumer in each location. We will use all the expertise we have built up worldwide and match that with the use clause presented by NS Stations. We won’t just take what works elsewhere and drop it in there; we never do that. It will be a combination of the universal elements that work in rail combined with what will work for each location.”

Chevalier said the company would continue to pursue further opportunities in rail. “We have many rail concessions across Europe and have believed in rail for many years. The COVID crisis will reinforce the need for rail retailing, we believe, as travel returns.”

The Dutch market represents a strong example of how Lagardère Travel Retail can implement its three business lines strategy, Chevalier said.

“In this market we have a team with capabilities across all three business lines, a very good understanding across all of them, that can deliver good results to the client, so if opportunities arise and they make sense financially, we will be interested in pursuing them.

“We have a strong track record now in the Netherlands, at Amsterdam Schiphol, with a talented team in fashion since we acquired Gerzon in late 2013. Since then we have done what we do elsewhere, by building our scope of activity progressively. We added a small souvenirs business at Schiphol, then developed in food with the takeover of the Smullers stores in the rail channel.

“Now we are building on that progress. With the Relay business we are deepening our partnership with NS Stations, and enlarging our business in the market by moving into travel essentials. The Netherlands is a very good example of how those three business lines work well together in multiple channels.”

He also noted that business across the major European markets remains tough, especially in airports, with the outlook for travel uncertain until COVID-19 levels are reduced, vaccination programmes are rolled out and regulations are agreed that allow people to move freely across the region again.

“We are talking to our partners everywhere about the pace of reopening to find the right balance. We have to look at the profile of traffic recovery by destination, which is especially important in the case of the fashion business for example. We will see how traffic develops and continue to be as reactive as we have been through the crisis, and then reopen widely as traffic grows.”

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