Swatch partners with Dufry to unveil shop-in-shop at Toulouse-Blagnac airport

FRANCE/SWITZERLAND. Swatch has unveiled a new shop-in-shop in partnership with Dufry at Toulouse-Blagnac Airport. The Swiss watch brand’s display features prominently in the TimeBox area of the recently opened 1,700sq m walkthrough Dufry store.

This follows major shop-in-shop openings for Swatch in what it describes as key airport locations in the past six months, and duty free in towns and cities across Asia, Europe, Middle East and the Americas.

The new Swatch display area in Dufry’s TimeBox zone, within its 1,700sq m store at Toulouse-Blagnac Airport.

Swatch told The Moodie Davitt Report that it will continue to open monobrand stores and shop-in-shops throughout 2019 in key travel retail locations where international traffic is growing.

The brand said it is now present in all major airports with corporate stores, as well as in partnership with the main travel retailers.

Explaining the rationale for establishing the new presence at Toulouse-Blagnac, Swatch told The Moodie Davitt Report: “Toulouse Airport, with 10 million PAX per year, has become synonymous with the aerospace industry as the home to aircraft manufacturing giants Airbus and ATR.

“The traffic and connectivity of the airport has grown constantly in the last few years. The new Toulouse-Blagnac airport shop-in-shop is definitely one of the best examples of how our brand is adapting to the necessities of its TR partners and requirements of airports’ available spaces.’’

Dufry’s new flagship store at Toulouse-Blagnac Airport, incorporating TimeBox, was designed by London-based The Design Solution.

Asked why travel retail is seen as an increasingly important channel for the brand, Swatch said: “Thanks to the development of low-cost air travel, and the interest of the millennials to discover the world, travel retail offers tremendous opportunities for the brand. It is a key area of sales growth and visibility.

“The middle-class segment is also travelling more and more, and airport security measures do leave plenty of time for travellers to spend time in Swatch stores. And finally most countries are facilitating the immigration visa processes, or even eliminating visa requirements.

“Travel retail is considered as a sixth continent, as the duty free distribution channel is a strategic market for the development and visibility of brands. International tourism will continue to rise despite continuing global geopolitical and economic challenges.’’

 

Food & Beverage The Magazine eZine