Dufry has hardly scratched the Brazilian DF&TR market potential and recent major contract gains will now help to ‘reinitiate’ its business in Brazil.

In an exclusive interview with TRBusiness this month, Dufry CEO Julian Díaz said the retailer’s defence of its Brazilian business and now the huge expansion and broadening of its nature represent some of the biggest challenges Dufry has ever faced.

The extension to its duty free contracts in Sao Paulo Guarulhos International Airport Terminals 1 and 2, plus winning the new T3 contract and other Brazilian airports’ business has positioned the retailer more strongly than at any time within its short history, said Díaz.

This has also been reinforced by its new partnership with Brasif [Dufry originally acquired the Brazilian operation from Brasif for $500m back on 2006-Ed] and particularly with regard to the potential opening up of duty free border stores on the Brazilian side of the border with Uruguay.

 

Dufry CEO, Julian Díaz.

 

50 NEW SHOPS TO OPEN BY MAY…
Díaz said opening 20,000sq m of new commercial space around 50 new retail shops in Sao Paulo Guarulhos Terminals 2 and 3, plus Brasilia, at Natal and in Viracopos is obviously a big challenge. All of this space also has to be trading by the middle of May – just one month before the FIFA World Cup Tournament begins.

He acknowledges that there is a huge amount of work to do before then, considering the new licences, brands and new employee recruitment involved, but he says Dufry is comfortable with it.

Brasilia Airport.

 

“We control the development of those shops weekly from an all-day aspect, from the commercial, financial and construction points of view and we have a complete team only dedicated to that. This is, in my opinion, not only a great challenge, but also a great opportunity.

“In Brazil, we are now in the process of opening two of the concepts that we had in the past more in mind to develop the duty paid business. One of them, for example, is the Brasilia walk-through department store concept in duty paid, close to 2,000sq m.

“This is on one side. The other is the first opening ever of Hudson News in Brazil. We are going to open five shops in Guarulhos Terminal 3, in Viracopos and in Natal.”

 

[TOP IMAGE: Arrivals shops account for round two thirds of annual sales at Brazil’s two main international airports of Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro].