Concessionaire Lagardère Travel Retail has won a duty-free tender for 24 business units at Václav Havel Airport Prague, Czech Republic, covering a total area of 4,372m² (47,000ft²). Lagardère will begin renovating the stores in January 2020 before becoming fully operational in June 2020.
The stores will offer different assortments and brands to address the specificities of each customer profile and will be adapted not only to the nationality of the passengers, but also to their age, income, needs, and travel and shopping habits. One of the novelties presented was to create a Czech white label range of local products to appeal to a new audience. The retailer will also bring specially trained staff with broad language skills, special emphasis on Asian languages, and innovative sales channels.
Richard Procházka, CEO, Lagardère Travel Retail Czech Republic, said, “We know what passengers want and how to bring it to them. We will deliver a completely renewed shopping experience with new retail technologies and a continuous renewal of our offer to showcase the best of Prague and the Czech Republic alongside the trendiest brands and travel retail exclusives. Our unique glocal organization, with experienced and empowered local teams supported by the expertise of the group, will enable us to do just that.”
Václav Rehor, chairman of the board of directors, Prague Airport, added, “We are pleased that the best offer finally came from Lagardère Travel Retail, with which we can continue our very good and mutually friendly cooperation in creating a modern duty-free product focused on the customers and their current needs.”
The store designs will be stylish and modern and will make clear references to Prague and the Czech Republic, its history, architecture and art. Sense of Place will also be experienced through the product assortment offered to passengers.
There will be a total of 767 brands, 140 of which will be completely new. Over 80 brands will be local, 32 of which will appear at Prague Airport for the first time. More than 90 exclusive product lines will only be available at the airport. The main concept is Aelia Duty Free, and it is adapted to the specifics of each terminal and location.
The retailer also offers a fully rejuvenated omnichannel retail strategy that will offer a next generation digital marketplace, click & collect service, new frictionless payment solutions to ease the shopping experience as well as an airport-specific loyalty program in partnership with the airlines.