FINLAND. An eye-catching new 1,350sqm tax free retail space aboard Viking Line’s new ship, Viking Glory, has welcomed its first wave of customers. Its expansive offer includes more than 20,000 products from 1,500 brands. [The Moodie Davitt Report will attend a tour of the ship later this month; watch out for a full on location report].
The €225 million, 2,800 passenger capacity vessel, which is being initially deployed on the Turku-Mariehamn-Stockholm route, also features a variety of retail spaces close to its main restaurant areas.
Viking Line – which operates a fleet of ferries and cruise ships between Finland, the Åland Islands, Sweden and Estonia – has billed the main retail space as “the Baltic Sea’s most stylish duty free shop”.
Savings of up to -40% across categories including fashion, beauty, wines & spirits, confectionery and toys are available compared to onshore prices.
The duty free store – which was fitted out in just three weeks – features shades of blue, gold and brass, with different tones and designs to distinguish between the different tax free categories.
Also featuring in the store are express cash tills, located next to the traditional cash registers, installed to speed up payment time and eliminate queues.
The extensive food & beverage offer onboard Viking Glory includes the Viking Terrace rooftop bar, with seating for 202 people; an eclectic food court offering a wide range of international dining options; Mimmi’s restaurant, serving burgers, steaks, fresh fish and salads; and Kobba, a bistro-style restaurant.
The interior design of the whole ferry, including the retail and F&B spaces, was undertaken by the well-known Swedish architect firm Koncept.
Viking Line Head of Retail Operations, Onboard and Online (Tax Free & Duty Paid) Mats Kotka told The Moodie Davitt Report: “Planning for the make-up and offer of the retail space took almost a year, so the plans had the detail to be able to meet the demands to finalise the retail build out in just three weeks.
“The atmosphere and thus the customer experience changes from one product category to the next by a completely different mood scheme from dark to light, from oak to cherry wood and so on. The lighting and music in the different categories changes as well, giving the customer a unique, inspirational shopping experience.”
Viking Line President and CEO Jan Hanses said: “The Turku route is very important for Viking Line as well as for passenger and cargo service between Finland and Sweden. We are extremely proud that we once again can take a vessel that represents the very latest in new advances to Turku – one that both improves the level of service on the route and reduces the environmental impact. There is great interest in Glory, and sales have got off to a really good start.”