Canadian airport duty free sales reached $23m in April 2013, an increase in sales of 15% compared to April 2013 sales. The January-April 2014 sales increased around 13% YOY, to $97m.

 

Duty Free sales at Canadian land border stores, reached $9.6m in April, an 8.89% increase YOY. However, sales decreased 3% between January and April, YOY, to $32m.

 

Nuance operated duty free store at Toronto Pearson Airport.

 

The main categories that dominated sales in land border duty free are as follows (in order of sales highest to lowest – based on  April 2014 numbers): Alcohol (liquor, liqueur, wine, coolers); Tobacco, Cigars, Loose Tobacco; Perfume, Cosmetics, Skincare; Food; Beer (beer, malt-based coolers); Jewellery, Watches, Clocks; Accessories (purses, wallets, sunglasses, etc.); Clothing (including hats, fur, leather); Souvenirs; Office and Travel Supplies; Glassware, crystal, china, figurines, porcelain; Other; Crafts/Arts and finally, Electronics, Cameras, Binoculars, etc.

 

In April, the Pacific region saw sales of around $1.8m, a 9% increase YOY, and between January and April sales rose by 5% to $6m, YOY.

 

Ontario posted sales of $5.2m in April, an increase of 6.5% YOY, but for the period January-April, it saw a decrease in sales of around 4% to $17m YOY.

 

Atlantic/Quebec, recorded an impressive increase in sales of around 14% to $1.7m for April 2014. For January-April 2014 the Atlantic and Quebec regions saw sales reach $5.4m, a decrease in sales of around 3% YOY.

 

And finally, the smallest grossing region, the Prairie Region, saw sales of around $785,000 in April, an increase of around 13% YOY. For January-April 2014, sales for the Prairie region were flat at $2.7m.