LS Travel Retail Pacific has brought the parent group Aelia Duty Free branding to Australia for the first time – also marking what it calls a “next generation evolution of the well-known NewsLINK concept”.

 

As part of the retail revamp at Adelaide Airport – officially opened last night by Chairman and CEO of Lagardère Services, Dag Rasmussen (left in picture), and Adelaide Airport Managing Director, Mark Young – are Victoria’s Secret Beauty & Accessories and tech2go stores.

 

The development increases LSTR’s footprint at Australia’s fifth busiest airport to 1,700sq m across nine brands, with the new stores joining existing NewsLINK, Relay, Icons South Australia, Australian Made, Purely Merino and Smiggle outlets.

 

At the launch Rasmussen acknowledged the strength of the partnership with Adelaide Airport as “pivotal in creating a dynamic retail offer”.

 

NEW CATEGORIES & BRANDS

The launch of Aelia Duty Free in Australia has allowed LSTR to bring new categories and brands to Adelaide for the first time, with the existing duty free footprint increasing by over +50%.

 

Among the enhancements are new P&C labels (left), an expanded technology offer and a dedicated feature area for iconic South Australian wine brands such as Penfolds and Jacob’s Creek, and Haighs chocolate.

 

LSTR CEO for the Pacific, Matthieu Mercier (right), comments: “Traveller’s expectations constantly evolve and the goal of our team is to anticipate these changes and ensure we are ready. We do that across all of our brands and use our strengths in each segment to reinforce our business as a whole.

 

“If a customer service innovation works in Travel Essentials, why not look at how we can adapt it to speciality retail. If a category performs strongly in Icons South Australia, how can we adapt that approach to duty free? We also do this on a global scale, working with our sister companies around the world to gain insights and help drive innovation.”

 

An example of this is the inclusion of tech2go corners in its duty free stores (left). This customer-centric focus has seen the retailer make big changes to its NewsLINK brand – unveiled for the first time in Adelaide – directed towards its vision of ‘the travel essentials store’ (see below).

 

This evolution encompasses everything from the brand identity to the retail environment, customer communication and product offer. Mercier says the architecture and layout of the store has also been designed to be “completely flexible and adaptable, allowing us to respond quickly to future passenger needs”.